Flashback
by lady-lunastar
Summary: When Greg’s new case brings him back in touch with an old friend, he’s left to wonder about the decisions he made years ago and if he can separate personal feelings and the case. Set in between season 5 and 6…After Grave Danger
1. Prelude

Flashback

I don't own CSI or anything related to it…if I did I would be set for life. I don't own any of the songs mentioned here. I'm just a poor college student from the middle of nowhere; writing some fan fiction…please don't sue. (P.S- I was inspired by The Office in some places, my other Thursday night habit…not a crossover though I swear) (All Italian and Spanish text is from Yahoo! Babel Fish)

Summary- When Greg's new case brings him back in touch with an old friend, he's left to wonder about the decisions he made years ago and if he can separate personal feelings and the case….yeah I suck at summaries, the story is much better. (Set in between season 5 and 6…After Grave Danger)

2005-Las Vegas

Prelude

"Don't screw this up," Ofilia said softly and went back down the stairs leaving Greg on the rooftop, looking at Jenna and her mother Clarissa on the swings. They didn't know he was there watching them from the door while they looked out at the Vegas sky line and were talking in rapid Italian. Greg leaned in the doorway and watched talk to her mother.

"I don't conosce il mom, lui realmente lo ha danneggiato l'ultima volta,"

She had offered to teach him how to speak Italian once when they were working together at that hell hole data entry job, he turned her down, telling her he stick with French, Norwegian and the Spanish he picked up at Mexican restaurants. She gave him that beautiful half smile before telling him he didn't know what he was missing. He saw now what he was missing and it hurt slightly.

_"I missed you, a chance to be with you."_

"Che perchè desiderate questo?" asked Clarissa. Jenna shook her head and gave a sad smile.

"Poiché he's astuto e caldo e divertente e lui si preoccupa per la gente I'm spaventato appena." Jenna laid her head down on her mother's shoulder.

"Però lo amate?" Jenna sounded near tears and a long pause followed before she said anything else.

"Penso che." Greg stepped out of the doorway and into the light where she could see him.

"Jen." She turned and looked at him. Her dark green eyes were filled with tears and her voice got even tenser.

"Mom potreste lasciarli soli per per un po'? Per favore," said Jenna. Clarissa nodded and headed towards the doorway and back down to bakery. Greg made sure they were alone before walking over to her.

"Greg before you," Jenna didn't get to finish her sentence because his kiss was stopping her words. He ran his fingers through her long brown hair, remembering how wonderful and light she was years ago, how happy she made him.

"_Please let me have another chance Jen…I missed you so much it hurt sometimes," _Greg thought when Jen's hands wrapped around his neck bring him in for more.

"_YES!!!!!!" _ Thought Greg.


	2. The parting of ways

May 1998- Stanford, California

The parting of ways

She felt so far away from him, physical she was sitting right in front of him on the lawn overlooking the pond on campus. Greg was sitting behind her, resting his head on top of hers, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding both her hands in his. Mentally, he knew she was miles away trying to understand why he was hurting her this way.

_"Way to go you fucking moron. You finally break up with Dana and start dating the girl who's been crushing on you since she saw you at work two years ago, and Dana comes back on your doorstep about two months later saying you knocked her up. At least you're finished with school so you can support your offspring,"_ thought Greg. His grip tightened on Jenna.

"Jen, you have to know I didn't want or mean to end things with you like this. I never meant to hurt you either. If I had known Dana was pregnant, I wouldn't have ended things with her and started seeing you. You can't begin to understand how sorry I am," said Greg. He felt her sigh and she started pulling on her hair.

"Are you going to marry her?" Greg felt like she punched him in the gut.

"I don't know, I wanna be there for the baby and if marrying Dana is what I have to do to be their...than yes"

"Som man reder sa ligger man," said Jenna looking at him. Greg had to smile.

"So you remember my family history."

"I'm part Italian, part Mexican and a bit Irish and the last time I checked a woman, so according to my mother I'll never forget anything," Jenna looked back at the pond trying to reorganize her thoughts. "Greg are you sure she's not yanking your chain. Dana hated seeing you happy." Greg sighed.

"Dana wouldn't joke about this," Jenna nodded and looked at him again.

"If I hadn't have been such a coward telling you how I really felt you wouldn't be in this mess."

"I could have ended things with Dana sooner too, but sadly I was thinking with my head and not the one on my shoulders." He pushed some of her hair away from her face. "Jen, you're like the closest thing I've ever had to a best friend." Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"You... Mr. Popular…I'm the closest thing you've ever had to a best friend. I think that should go into the book of lame break up lines, right next to 'It's not you, it's me." Jenna turned back to the pond and Greg sighed.

"I'm serious; I've had friends' lots of friends. But they're not like you, you're sweet and kind and you always come up with the best jokes to play on Barb and you've always been there to listen to me." Greg reached out and took Jenna's hand. "I don't wanna lose my best friend now, are you sure you wanna go back to Vegas?"

"It's just for the summer, than I come back to finish my Bachelors. I can still call you right?" asked Jenna.

"You can call, write, e-mail me anytime you want. Dana can't control who I talk too," Greg said. He got in front of her and made himself look into her eyes. "I'm sorry that I've hurt you." Jenna's eyes clouded over and she moved into his lap.

"I just wanna stay here a little longer…okay." She closed her eyes and put her head on his chest. Greg closed his eyes and held her close.

_"I won't forget the way you smirk right before a prank goes off on Barb, I won't forget that you sing at your desk while you're on hold, that you like the color light purple, that you prefer Pepsi to Coke and I won't forget how great it felt the first time I kissed you in the stairwell after Dana and I got into that huge fight…and I won't forget all the other little things that made me crazy about you," _thought Greg listening to Jenna sniffle into his shirt.


	3. Cake walk

Part two

Las Vegas-2005

Cake walk

Greg pulled his car to a stop and yawned. He was still trying to get used to early morning call-outs. He had just crawled into bed at 5 am when his phone went off, on the other line was Grissom telling him to rise and shine.

"Hard to rise when you haven't even laid down," Greg said.

"I promise the over time will be worth it. We have a DB in a bakery kitchen; Bakery is called Torta dei dolci. A few blocks north away from the lab, you can't miss it. When you get their make you sure you see me first," said Grissom.

"Sure," said Greg hanging up with Grissom. He was grateful for Warrick's advice about making sure your clothes and kit where ready for such occasions. He didn't think he had the mental ability to put a kit together right now. He threw on a clean shirt and jeans, grabbed his vest off the sofa and was at the scene ten minutes later. Greg got out and grabbed his kit from the back and went to find Grissom. Greg ran into Nick first thing.

"Hey man, didn't think I see you back so soon." Nick shook his head.

"Day-time TV is the worst thing that ever happened to the human race, I asked if I could come back a few days early before my brain turned into mush from all the Jerry Springer," said Nick holding a door open for Greg. Both men went into the kitchen and were a little thrown back by the smell of sugar and blood. David Phillips, Hodges and Grissom were around the body. The victim was a woman, maybe in her late twenties with the back of her head missing. A bloody rolling pin was next to the body.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say cause of death was blunt force trauma," said Phillips. Phillips started looking for an ID with no luck while Greg pulled out his camera and started clicking photos of the rolling pin, the body and the blood splatter on the floor and counters. Phillips pulled a thermometer out of the woman.

"I'm going to place time of death around 1 or 2 this morning. If you have everything you need from me, I'm going to take her with me to the morgue," said Phillips. Grissom gave the nod and two assistants went and moved the body to a bag and onto a stretcher.

"Sara is going to be here in a little bit to help process the kitchen. Nick, I want you, Greg and Hodges to talk to the owner and staff that found the body. They are upstairs in one of the offices, which is through that door, to your right and up those stairs. Take their statements, along with DNA samples, hair and fingerprints. Bring the owner down here when your done I need to know about the security system and how someone could have gotten into the kitchen without tripping an alarm. And hopefully someone here can id the victim for us.

"Why the hell would you break into a bakery kitchen, unless they keep a safe down here," said Nick. Greg was looking through a purse found under a baker's rack; it was real black leather and a pearl clasp.

"Maybe she had the munchies," suggested Greg handing Grissom the purse that had no id in it either.

"That's silly, if she wanted food it's in the display cases out front," said Hodges. Nick and Greg shared a look while Grissom replied.

"No Hodges that's plastic and foam for display, now go watch Nick and Greg work. Nick and Greg go work," said Grissom. Greg and Nick headed for the offices.

"Why is Hodges here?" asked Greg with a moan.

"Because god likes to punish both of Sanders and because it's my turn in field rotation," said Hodges.

"Swear you two need to get married, maybe you can even get a cake from here," said Nick admiring a fake five tier cake with a castle theme."

"I rather drink bleach," said Hodges.

"It can always be arranged," said Greg heading up the stairs and into the office.

A group of women were huddled together sitting in either chairs or on the floor. One woman wearing blue jeans and a short sleeve shirt showing off a natural tan with her brown hair pulled into a bun was talking on the phone while sitting on a desk, but had her back to them.

"No, it's alright you don't need to come today Lissa. I gave you today off yesterday afternoon, I think shop is closed today anyway, I had to move everything from here to the shop in Henderson." She paused. "Yeah people are pissed off, but not much I can do about it….no I told them we had a gas leak, so unless this makes the papers I think it's going to be ok business wise." One woman with black hair poked the woman on the phone and nodded her head in the direction of Nick Greg and Hodges.

"The 5-0 is here," she said. The woman on the phone nodded.

"Ok. Lissa I have to go, just take today and act like a slacker college student and not the over achieving intern I hired. Bye sweetie," she hung up the phone and turned around. Greg felt himself go red in face and one look at her told her she was just as flustered as he was. She offered Nick a handshake buying for time.

"Jenna Bianchi, I'm the owner."


	4. Hello my old friend

Hello my old friend

"Mrs. Bianchi, I'm Nick Stokes I'm with the Crime Lab. We need to ask you and your staff some questions about the lady downstairs."

"Should we call a lawyer or something similar to the devil Jen?" asked a girl wearing a dark plaid skirt and a shirt that had skulls on it. Jenna sighed and looked at the girl.

"Baby girl did you kill the lady in the kitchen?"

"No! I just them to know I am well aware of my sixth amendment right and the right to remain silent."

"Now would be a wonderful time to work on your right to remain silent, Julia," said Jenna.

"Let me guess she's majoring in law?" asked Nick.

"Communication law actually. But she does have a good point," said Jenna.

"This is just a chat trying to find out what happened to the lady in the kitchen. Mr. Sanders and Mr. Hodges are gonna take you DNA, hair and your prints," said Nick.

"Excuse Miss. Bianchi, but are you married?" asked Greg. Jenna turned and looked at him coolly.

"No I am not, what does that have to do with anything?"

"You're twisting the third finger on your left hand, but their no ring," said Greg.

"I was engaged for a long time ago, it didn't end well, like lots of other things in my life." Nick looked at Greg and than at Jenna who glared at Greg than tucked a stand of hair behind her ear revealing a bruise near her eye.

"How did you get that bruise there?" asked Nick.

"Oh that, we had a bridezilla in here the other day who got pissed when I wouldn't bend the six to eight week rule on cake ordering. She wanted a six tier cake, with six different flavors and fillings by tomorrow afternoon. When I told her no it couldn't be done, she freaked out and hit me."

"Over a cake," said Nick in shock.

"Bitch was crazy," said the woman who addressed Jenna when she was on the phone. She was a short woman with black hair wearing blue jeans and a white apron over a blue shirt.

"That's Ofilia, she's the manager and she saw what happened."

"Can you tell me what time everyone left?"

"We close at nine, but me, Ofilia, her daughter Millia, Lissa the intern and Julia stayed till eleven prepping some orders, they left and I was here till about midnight doing some design work for upcoming orders. Went home, took a shower, got some sleep and was back here around five to open, when I found the body in the kitchen," said Jenna.

"What door did you come in from? And what door does everyone leave from" asked Nick.

"Front door is how most people leave at night; in the mornings depending on who's here it varies. I come in through the fire escape and into my office first thing to get orders printed out, than I go to the kitchen. Ofilia and everyone else comes in through the kitchen."

"Greg can I see your camera?" asked Nick. Greg handed Nick the camera and quickly moved away from Jenna.

_"Note to self-ask Greg what his issue is this morning,"_ thought Nick. He scanned through the pictures and found one that wasn't to horrible to look at, but still enough to get an id. He showed Jenna and the other ladies.

"Does this woman look familiar to any of you?"

"God its bridezilla," said Julia.

"Did bridezilla have a real name?" asked Nick.

"Linda Stesiak. She came in for a tasting at one, freaked out at 1:30 and I threw her out of bakery at 1:45," said Jenna.

"Did she leave an address, any sort of contact info?" asked Nick. Jenna nodded.

"In my office, the next room to the left."

"Will take that before we leave. After we get your DNA and fingerprints, the staff can go home. Miss Bianchi, we'll need you to stay and walk us through the bakery."

"Not a problem."

"Greg would you do the honors," said Nick stepping aside. Greg opened his kit on the desk and pulled out the needed swabs, baggies and print cards.

"Hodges can you hold these for me?" asked Greg handing him the evidence bags.

"The things I do to stay employed," muttered Hodges taking the bags. Greg swabbed while Nick printed so things moved rather quickly. The ladies collected their stuff and headed out.

"We're still on for dinner and drinks at your place?" asked Ofilia picking up her purse.

"I'll need a drink after today. My mom is going to fly back from Italy and want to know why I moved shop and ended up with a dead body in the kitchen," said Jenna. Ofilia gave her a hug.

"Don't let the man get you down," she leaned in close to Jenna and whispered. "What's with Blondie and his pissy attitude around you?"

"Long story." Ofilia gave her a look.

"Your voice has a tell, and you're going tell me later," said softly Ofilia heading out the door. Jenna was the only one left in the office that hadn't been printed or swabbed.

"Hey Hodges why don't you come back downstairs with me and see if Grissom needs any help?" asked Nick. Nick knew that Hodges would jump at the chance to be a lap dog for Grissom and he wanted to know what was up with Greg and Greg wasn't going to do anything if he knew someone was watching. He planned to get Hodges downstairs with Grissom and creep back up here.

"Here's your spit," said Hodges thrusting the bags at Greg and walking out of the office with Nick behind him. Greg wanted to kick both of them right now as he put the bags in his cases. Jenna sat down on the desk next to the case.

"Hey," Greg closed his eyes and wished that Grissom had called someone else out this morning; he was too tired to deal with anything, especially not the girl who broke his heart years ago. Greg looked at her and saw her looking back at him with those wonderful green eyes.

"So are you going to keep acting like I don't exist or keep being an ass around me?" asked Jenna. Greg pulled out a swab.

"I just need a DNA sample," he said coolly. Jenna glared at him, took the swab and ran it in her mouth, capped it and almost threw it at him.

"There's your sample." Greg pulled out another print card and some ink.

"Should I print myself too?" asked Jenna.

"No, we won't get a good sample if you do," said Greg. He took her hand and started printed.

"So you're a cop now?" asked Jenna trying to stop herself from snapping at him. It was a shock to both of them to see each other after all this time. He was trying to focus on taking her prints, but focus was lacking while holding her hand and pressing her fingers down to get a good impression. He took a deep breath, she was being polite, no reason to be any more of an ass.

"Sort of, I just started a few months ago. I was doing lab work for the CSI's and I moved into the field recently." Jenna couldn't help but hear the pride in his voice.

"Congratulations. Dana must be proud of you," Greg's grip tighten on Jenna's left thumb and he pressed down a little too hard. Jenna yanked her hand away from him.

"That hurt."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I still need your right hand." Jenna nodded and he started printing her right hand.

"So how long have you been running café cake land?" asked Greg. Jenna smiled.

"A few years now, but we just set up shop here and my mom stepped down after she went into remission. She decided to go to Italy this year for an early retirement."

"Congratulations to you too," said Greg. He printed the last finger and gave her a wet nap to wash the ink off.

"So when she comes back are you going to head back to school, finish up your Bachelors?" asked Greg. Jenna smile froze on her face.

"No, I got my Associates in Business and I have more real world experience than a grad student with a Bachelors, I'm running two bakeries and have some cool awards under my belt for my work here. I'm happy with my life," said Jenna. Greg started looking through his case, it was easier than looking at her.

"Just seems like a waste you didn't go back after your mom got better," said Greg. Jenna face started to get red.

"I had other things to do," said Jenna.

"Like getting engaged to a moron who couldn't stand the thought of you getting an education," said Greg shutting the case.

"Don't even go there with me," said Jenna.

"I think I went there," said Greg picking up the case and turning to head out of the room. Jenna bit her lip to keep from crying, than found herself getting really pissed off.

"_How dare he come in here, into my business and tell me that my life sucks because I didn't get that piece of paper," _thought Jenna.

"Tell Dana and your kid I said hello." She brushed past Greg and down the stairs not even noticing Nick on her left. Nick poked his head in and looked at a shocked Greg.

"Boy you have a lot of talking to do," said Nick.


	5. Bella Mafia

Part Four

The Bella Mafia

Jenna was fighting the urge to go back upstairs and slap Greg for being an ass. It was a shitty day that was getting shittier by the second. All that needed to happen was for someone to pour sugar in her gas tank while pissing on her shoes.

"_Fucking jerk…he ended it with me. He wouldn't return my calls; he blocked my e-mails and sent back my letters. What the hell did he think I was going to do sit around and mourn? I had a life here…it was a dumb decision to get back with Andy, I chalk it up to be emotional over my mom's cancer and Greg dumping me like a bad habit all at once. But, I ended it…I was at least smart enough to get out before I was really stuck there too bad I learned the hard way," _thought Jenna. She tried to clear her head before going into the kitchen, but the effort was a lost cause. Grissom knew people and he knew that Jenna was upset about something, and he had a feeling that it wasn't the DB.

"Hi we met earlier; I'm Gil Grissom with the Crime Lab. Would it be possible to get a tour of the bakery so we can get a better understand of how the victim might have gotten in."

"Sure. Well the shop was three floors, the basement is where we make our cake molds, and it's mostly a workshop. Would you like to start their and work your way up?" asked Jenna. Grissom nodded and called to a woman with brown hair.

"Sara could you come with me, just in case we need any photos? Hodges please wait here for us" asked Grissom.

"Sure," she finished collecting something near the doorway. Jenna showed them to the back of the kitchen and opened a door that lead to a flight of stairs.

"So you guys make your own molds?" asked Sara.

"Yeah it makes it easier than trying to order them out of town or even out of state. We have some really good metal workers here," said Jenna. She flipped on a light switch for them to see the dirty basement. Saws, foam and other tools were all over the place, sheets of metal to be pounded into cake pans sat on one side of the room. Pans that were finished on another side, waiting to be polished and treated than sent upstairs.

"So the only way to get down here is through the kitchen?" asked Grissom poking through some of the finished pans.

"Yeah, it's also soundproof; from down here you can't hear anything from the kitchen. The kitchen is also soundproof from the front of the house," said Jenna.

"How come?" asked Sara.

"Well it gets very loud down here and who wants to hear sawing metal all day. The kitchen gets loud and foul language is used and who wants the customers to hear you bitch that a cake is going to drive you crazy, plus we have different musical taste in the back of the house. You don't want the people to hear you listening to Manson while trying to decide between chocolate or white chocolate frosting."

I guess it's safe to say that if something happened down here while someone was upstairs nothing would be heard?" asked Grissom. Jenna nodded.

"The only way that would happen is through the intercom system. We have an intercom system that links everything in the bakery, but someone would have to press it," said Jenna showing them the buzzer and speaker. Grissom looked at the system. A person would have to press speak than press what room they wanted to connect with.

"Do you mind me asking where you spend most of your time?" asked Grissom trying to get a better feel for the young woman.

"I bounce between the shop down here, the kitchen and my office, but I would say that most of my time is spent in the kitchen," said Jenna.

"I have to say I'm really impressed with these pans," said Sara picking up on shaped like a piano. Jenna smiled.

"I made that one for my brother and his wife a few years ago; I brought it down here for some touch ups."

"Can we get a better tour of the kitchen?" asked Grissom. Jenna led the way back up the stairs. She felt a little weird being in the kitchen, she loved being in this room and now she felt like something had been taken from her.

"Now the backdoor was kicked in, why didn't an alarm go off?' asked Grissom.

"We're still getting this set up here the final alarm system was supposed to be set up by next week. The front of the house has an alarm and so do the offices upstairs. I honestly thought if someone was going to break in they hit the offices upstairs for cash and trip the alarm, not stay in the kitchen with raw eggs and large mixers."

"Nick tells me you had a disagreement with the victim yesterday afternoon. Would you like to go into more detail?" asked Sara.

"She set up a tasting a few weeks ago and she came in with an older woman, not sure if it was her mother or MIL…"

"MIL?" asked Grissom.

"Sorry…wedding lingo. MIL means Mother in Law. We have a policy in place that a wedding cake order should happen six to eight weeks before the date. Just in case they change their minds, and we have them set on the calendar, everything we put out is fresh, nothing gets frozen. So it helps knowing six week in advance what cake you're making. She got really upset when I told her two days wasn't enough time, she called me a lot of nasty names in front of Ofilia my manager and Lissa the intern. I told her I was not to be insulted in my business and to leave. I turned around, she grabbed a fist full of my hair and hit me with her ring hand," said Jenna showing them a band shaped marking near her eye. "Ofilia pulled me away and the older woman pulled her the other way. I didn't hit her back, I wanted to, but I didn't want the lawsuit that went with it. The older woman felt really bad and offered to pay for any mess. I turned the offer down and told them both to never come back."

"Did the victim say anything else after that?" asked Grissom.

"That I would be very sorry about this."

Nick looked at Greg with his mouth opened.

"Okay when this shift is over, we are going to have a serious talk about you, the cake lady and your kid that you never told anyone about," said Nick.

"It's not what you think…" Greg was flustered and he sat on the desk.

"Look Grissom wants us to check out Jenna's office, Hodges is following Grissom around like a puppy and Jenna's showing him the bakery, so let's go in Jenna's office and talk." Greg nodded and followed Nick into the other room. The office was very much Jenna. It was clean had a hard wood floor and a few bookshelves filled with either cookbooks or bridal magazines. The desk was facing a window that had purple shades that overlooked the alley; it had a small laptop and printer. Most of the desk was for pictures, like her old desk back in Stanford. The pictures were newer though, Jenna at her brother's wedding, and another one showed her holding an infant while sitting in a rock chair next to her brother. A picture that had been drawn by a child was propped up, the drawing was of a little girl and someone that was suppose to be Jenna at a table having tea.

"Me and Tia Jenna having tea," said Nick reading the caption on the picture.

"Tia means aunt right?" asked Greg moving papers around looking for a planner.

"Yes, Tia means aunt…now start spilling while your looking," said Nick going through a file cabinet.

"I met Jenna when we were at Stanford, she was majoring in business and we were both working this crappy job, me for spending cash, her for rent and food. There was just something about her…you know. She could walk into a room and just light it up. I honestly think that if she hadn't been there, I would have killed myself from the boredom. However, I was dating a frat house girl I met named Dana, she was hot and the sex was good, but that's all it was, sex. I didn't feel anything for her now that I look back, but I stayed hoping I would feel something more for her. But, it just never happened than one day we got into this huge fight about what I wanted to do after graduation, and that meant moving out of California. She just blew up at me man, called me every name in the book and a few I had never heard. She told me what a joke I was and what a waste of time being with me was."

"Ouch."

"Yeah ouch was right, I mean even though I didn't feel anything for her it still hurt, ok she was my first so their was a little feeling their, enough for it to hurt. I was sitting in the office stairwell feeling sorry for myself, when Jenna sat down next to me and asked me what was wrong. I just spilled everything and she just sat there and listened to me. When I was done, she just looked at me and told me that Dana was an evil bitch and that if she couldn't see what a wonderful person I was, she should be kicked in the ass…and when she said that it was like a light clicked on. I knew in that second what she meant to me and that I would be better for her and she would be better for me too. She stood up and I pinned her to the wall and kissed her. Nick, before her I never kissed anyone like that, and to be honest I haven't kissed any girl after her like that." Greg turned to the lap top and clicked it on.

"So why are you not with her now and what kid is she talking about?" asked Nick pulling out a file and flipping through it.

"We started seeing each other and than Dana, my ex, shows up on my door with a positive pregnancy test in her hand. She told me it was mine and wanted to know what we should do about it," said Greg pulling up a day planner on the lap top.

"Let me guess, you decide to do the good guy thing and be with your baby's mama," said Nick.

"I ended it with Jen, we agreed to be friends. She came back here to Vegas, only to find out her mom had cancer and she dropped out of school. We talked a few times, we hated our lives and they only thing that made us happy was each other, I even told her that after the baby was born I wanted her back, I would be their for my child, but I wanted to be with her. Than for no reason she stopped calling, or writing or e-mailing me. I couldn't get a hold of her for months. Than Dana had a baby that was a little too dark to be mine," said Greg printing out the day planner for yesterday afternoon.

"She conned you good," said Nick pulling out a copy of Linda Stesiak credit card and driver's license.

"Yep, I told her that I was moving out and that she could do whatever the hell she wanted. She laughed and told me if I was planning on going back to 'my little wetback' that she would need to break off her engagement. I got pissed and asked her what she meant and she told me that an engagement announcement had to come to the apartment a few days before and it was from Jenna, she was going to marry her dickhead of a boyfriend who she had dumped two years ago.. I knew she wasn't waiting or coming back to me. A few months later, I got the job out here in Vegas, but thought 'large city, night shift job' our paths would never cross again."

"Until you walk right into a crime scene that takes place in her bakery. Little odd don't you think," said Nick. Greg raised an eyebrow.

"She didn't even know I moved to Vegas, so if you're saying she killed someone to get me here, you are a crazy little man," said Greg.

"I just believe that it two people are supposed to be together, it will happen, could take months, years, a lifetime, but it will happen sooner or later. Personal I prefer sooner," said Nick heading for the door. Greg picked up the print out and looked at the picture of Jenna with her brother. She looked happy, but was it the same covered he used with people. He dated, he flirted with Sara, but every now and than Jenna would creep back into his thoughts and hurt him a little more each time. He sighed and head back downstairs.

Jenna was getting ready to lead Grissom, Sara and Hodges upstairs when Greg and Nick came down from the office.

"We were able to find the records on Miss. Stesiak. She's found out of state, but I'm sure with the credit number noted here, we could find a paper trial," said Nick.

"I think we have everything we need here, Miss Bianchi, if we need anything else we'll call you, but other than that we'll send someone by to clean up in the kitchen. I advise you to take the day off," said Grissom.

"Thank you," said Jenna. Hodges turned to Jenna.

"You'll have to forgive me for asking this, but considering your heritage, do you think this could be a mob hit?" Grissom looked shocked, Sara and Nick exchanged a glance and Greg was trying not to laugh at how retarded Hodges could be.

"I'm normally against assaulting an officer, but we all be willing to turn around if you would like to hit him once," said Nick. Jenna let out that smirk and Greg knew that Hodges was in for it.

"It is possible; my grandmother was part of the Bella Mafia and she was a force to be reckoned with."

"Really?" said Hodges.

"Actually they were very upset when my mother went to Italy and refused to join Bella Mafia, I suppose this could be their way of getting to her through me." She took a pen out of her pocket and wrote a number on Hodges hand.

"That's my home line, call me anytime you want. I may need you to help me," said Jenna with a straight face. Hodges nodded gravely. Nick, Sara, and Grissom shared a grin. Jenna turned to look at Greg and only got a blank stare.

"_God I miss the cute guy who was impressed by a two hole punch frozen in ice," _thought Jenna.


	6. Ice Breaker

Ice breaker

August 1996 Stanford, California

Jenna fought the urge to yawn and took another sip of her water and waited for Barb to open her desk drawer and see the present she had been given. Jenna went back to her typing, wondering how someone would feel knowing that she had all their personal info and when she was done typing it in, it went to a telemarketer who called them during dinner or while their favorite TV show was on.

"Excuse me Jenna," said Mitch her boss. Jenna looked up and saw him standing there with a new guy who was a good six inches taller than her.

"Jenna this is Greg Sanders and he's going to be doing Mark's old job. I was hoping you could help me show him the ropes around here" Jenna looked at Greg and smiled. He was just too cute; he had gone through a lot of trouble to make himself presentable. Suit, tie that looked liked it was choking him to death and it appeared that he has tried and failed to make his hair stay flat. Jenna stood up to shake his hand and only came up to the middle of this chest.

"Jenna Bianchi, it's nice to meet you." She shook his hand and the poor guy looked so nervous.

_"He really needs to loosen up,"_ thought Jenna and she knew how.

"Mitch would it be alright if I went with you while you show Greg around the office? Just so we get to know each other?"

"Sure why not." Jenna saved her file and grabbed her ice water. She started following Greg and Mitch over to Barb's desk and tried to hide her grin.

"This lady here is a rock, Barb Leeds. Barb say hello to Greg," said Mitch. The older woman turned in her chair, seized Greg's hand and shook it hard.

"Barb Leeds, Assistant Floor Manager.

"To the Floor Manager. Barb breeds dogs on the side, isn't that right?" asked Mitch. Barb nodded gravely.

"Why yes one of them just won best in show." Barb opened the drawer Jenna was hoping for. "I have pictures here…GOD DAMN-IT JENNIFER!"

"It's Jen or Jenna, not Jennifer."

"Now calm down what's the matter?" asked Mitch. Barb reached in and pulled out a clear plastic bowl that had a two hole punch, held in ice. She tossed the bowl on her desk.

"She put my stuff in ice again!" Greg started to laugh, but pulled it in to a coughing fit. He looked at Jenna and she smirked.

"You are my witness," said Barb pointing at Greg. "I want her punished."

"Now how do you know it was me?" asked Jenna sweetly taking a sip of her water. Mitch tried to hold his poker face.

"Jen, we've talked about this. While it was funny all last week, it needs to stop. You need to stop putting Barb's stuff in ice. Now say you're sorry."

"I'm sorry Barb; you know I'm not cold-blooded." Jenna looked at Greg and saw him grinning.

"I'm sure Jenna isn't an ice queen," said Greg.

"See all better now. Barb that should melt in a few hours and everything will be fine. Jenna, I have other work to do, can you take care of Mister Sanders?"

"Yup." Mitch walked away from a muttering Barb. Jenna looked at Greg again and he seemed relaxed and his brown eyes were shining with glee.

"Shall I show you to your new home?"

"After you my kind lady," said Greg. When they were out of earshot from Barb, Greg leaned in and whispered. "That was so funny; did you really put her stuff in ice all last week?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny anything relating to the case in question, but when she stops calling me Jenny or Jennifer, hell will stop freezing over. I've been here since May and she just now starts calling me Jenny, it's just really annoying and I found a way to get even though." Jenna found a desk close to hers and got Greg set up. "This will do for now, when I'm done training you though you can move to another desk."

"But what if I like this one?" he asked falling into the chair. "I get a good vibe from this desk."

"Than you can stay right there. I have lunch at noon; you wanna grab some pizza with me? I can tell you all the really important things about working here. Like if you ever get a craving for mini candy bars, go see Marv, he has everything in his bottom left drawer.

"Sure," said Greg. Jenna pulled up a chair and sat next to him.

"Now let me teach you about the job that is so easy, I'm sure that someday we'll come in and find monkeys doing it." She turned to get a folder and didn't notice the silly grin Greg had while looking at her.

"So what made you want to work at the most boring place on earth?" asked Greg sipping his root beer.

"My need to eat and my want for textbooks, what about you?"

"My need for partying and my want for cool toys, I blew my savings in New York over the summer…wow that makes me sound like an ass doesn't it?" Jenna shrugged.

"Hey party for me please. My aid covered tuition and a roof over my head, but business textbooks add up and living off ramen till winter break isn't my thing," said Jenna biting into a breadstick.

"Let me buy lunch than," said Greg. Jenna felt her face go a little pink.

"No it's cool I have this."

"Please after the 'ice breaker' this morning I owe you."

"Well, I can't say no to a free meal. And it's been awhile since a member of the opposite sex treated me."

"So from that remark, I'm gathering that you're single," said Greg. Jenna took a sip of her Pepsi.

"We broke up over the summer. He wanted me quit after I got my Associate's next year, but I really want my B.S in Business."

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It made me realize that we wanted different things in life. I want a business that is going to kick ass and he wants…I don't know," said Jenna putting some pizza on her plate.

"Forgive me for saying this, but you look too nice to be running your own business. I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, but you remind me of a grade school teacher." Greg decided to start stuffing his own face before he looked anymore like an ass. Jenna giggled.

"And what's your major, English…no wait Philosophy."

"Chemistry."

"No way. You don't look like the kid who got stuffed in a locker daily." Greg shook his head.

"Believe me I had the full nerd brace look going on and I was captain of the high school Chess Team."

"They have captains for Chess Team?" asked Jenna sounded shocked.

"Don't mock me, what did you do in high school?"

"I did some choir, but I worked mostly, my mom owns her own bakery and being her daughter means I'm slave labor. However, I did learn to make a good cannoli, it's been know to bring men to tears." Greg snorted and almost got root beer on his pizza.

"Wow, cocky aren't we."

"I take pride in my kitchen skills thank you very much." They finished their pizza and head back to work.

"Well I wish my current girlfriend would learn some kitchen skill, because I suck at cooking and Mac and cheese dinners are getting old." Jenna suddenly felt a little dishearten that Greg had a girlfriend.

"_Figures the first cute guy to buy you a meal in months turns out to be taken. It could be worse he could be gay."_ Jenna told herself when they got back to work and Barb was bitching that the hole punch was leaking on her papers. Greg laughed and told Barb it could be worse.

"She could have put it in Jell-o."

"_I just may have to try that,"_ thought Jenna.


	7. Worst day since yesterday

Worst day since Yesterday

Las Vegas-2005

"Hodges is trying to get the phone number off his hand and onto a piece of paper, but he was sweating and the ink ran and now all he can make out is a two and five. God it's the funniest thing I've seen since coming here," said Wendy pouring herself some coffee.

"I wish I could have seen the look on his face when she did it. Greg what did Hodges look like when she did that?" asked Archie. The lab rats were getting ready to start and Greg was getting ready to start his double shift and was getting ready to go over the stuff brought back from the bakery with Grissom, Sara and Nick. Word of what Hodges had done at the scene and Jenna's reaction were spreading like wildfire through the lab. It was great because Hodges was always such an ass and the fact that a civilian had brought him down a peg was priceless.

"I don't know, wasn't really paying attention." Greg turned his back to get creamer and missed the looks between Wendy and Archie. Greg should have been loving the hell out this, Hodges never missed a change to take a dig on Greg and here was the chance of a lifetime and Greg didn't seem to care.

"Okay…where is Sanders and what have you done with him?" asked Wendy.

"What?" asked Greg.

"Greg, Hodges got owned and you're not feeling it, that either means you're ill or you're not Greg. I'm leaning towards not Greg, because even sick Sanders would give a smile to the falling of Hodges," said Archie.

"Just really tired that's all. I see you guys later," Greg walked out and Nick waked in for his coffee fix and was caught by the lab rats.

"What is wrong with Greg?"

"What did Hodges look like when she wrote on his hand?"

"Seriously is Greg sick, the man looks like someone kicked his dog or there not growing Blue Hawaiian anymore," said Archie. Nick shook his head, the kid must be feeling down after that run in. He really must of liked her to be feeling this shitty.

"Greg is fine, early morning roll outs are still new. But Hodges looked like he couldn't believe a woman was touching him and he looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. Has he called her yet?"

"All that he can make out from his sweaty little palm is two numbers. Not much to work with," said Wendy.

"I wish I could have seen it,' said Archie.

Greg downed his coffee quickly, it burned slightly but it took the edge off how shitty he did feel. The Jenna who wrote a probably fake number on Hodges's hand was the Jenna he remembered when the first met at the job entering data for telemarketers. The Jenna who put other people's stuff in ice, got him hide dirty magazines in the office and made him laugh till he cry was right in front of him when she wrote on Hodges's hand. When she looked at him, it was like she was trying to pull him back in time, when they were still friends…well at least still speaking. He couldn't go back their though, it hurt too much.

"_I asked her to wait for me, god damn it and she goes off and plans to marry some jackass that wasn't good enough for her from the second I heard about him. Than she acts like nothing happened…fucking hell women make no sense," _thought Greg. He headed over to Grissom's office to get an update on the case. Grissom and Sara were deep in conversation and didn't notice when Greg walked in.

"_Remember when you and Jenna would talk like that, not caring who saw, just focused on the words and way she would laugh and get giddy when a prank was being planned."_ Greg cleared his throat and sat down in a chair. Grissom moved away calmly, but Sara seemed to jump slightly.

"_Yeah Jenna used to jump away when people saw you huddled like that. She didn't want people to know what was going on, even though the only one who didn't see it was me, because I was a dumbass."_

"So any luck retracing the Stesiak credit card?" asked Greg. Nick walked in with a report from the credit card company.

"The only activity was at the bakery when she paid for her tasting, other than that no hotel rooms in her name, no car rental, nothing," said Nick.  
"You're kidding…how did she get to Vegas?" asked Sara.

"Mom could be footing the bill; I have someone running down anyone with the last name Stesiak. Still looking through, it could take awhile," said Nick.

"Try to step it up a little," said Grissom. "What can you tell me about the pink crystals near the kitchen door Greg?"

"_Good work…now you don't have to think."_

"The crystals are Swarovski Crystals, the diamonds of crystals. They could have come from a piece of jewelry the victim was wearing or anyone who likes shiny things."

"Nope the only jewelry the victim had on was her engagement ring and that was the diamond of diamonds," said Sara.

"So it could have come from a random person or the girls who work their?" asked Nick. Grissom nodded.

"The crystal could have fallen off when the prep attacked the victim. I'm getting ready to talk to Robbins to see if the cause of death is crystal clear yet," said Grissom.

"Oh that was lame," said Sara. Grissom shrugged and headed out, Sara and Nick trailing him. Greg looked at them and felt like he had been hit with a rolling pin.

"_When the hell did Grissom and Sara hook up?!?!?!" _ Greg saw it, he and Jenna had done the same dance for over a year before they got together and now Grissom and Sara were doing it, a whole hell of lot better than him and Jenna had.

"Why can't you bring me more cases like this Gil? Simple, clean cut blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Weapon is a little crude, a rolling pin," said Robbins holding up the bag with the weapon.

"It was in a bakery doc, you use what you can find," said Grissom.

"Well it could have been worse, could have been a frying pan. Help me roll her over," said Robbins. Grissom and Nick rolled her to her side so they could get a better view of the head wound. "The back of her skull is almost completely caved in, suggesting a very brutal beating. The first blow took her down, the second crushed everything killing her, but there is more than two blows here, suggesting the killer was very, very hateful towards our victim."

"The owner got into a fight the day before with our victim. The victim attacked her. Maybe the victim came back for round two and the owner defended herself," said Sara. Robbins shook his head.

"This attack was from behind, no defensive wounds, no marks on the face or anything on the front, like I said the first blow took her down, everything after that was just hateful," Robbins covered up the body and handed them the bag with the rolling pin and some evidence bags. "Some skin under her nails, no signs of sexual assault though, some hair found on her person. Found this piece of crystal in the wound that was a bit odd. Sorry there isn't more to work with."

"Gave us more than we had before Doc," said Grissom. The group headed out.

"So what do you think?" asked Nick.

"Not sure yet. Nick can you start doing background checks on all the employees at the bakery and the owner? Greg can you help Nick with that? Sara run these skin and hair to Hodges and tell him to quit wasting time on a fake phone numbers we have a murder to work and suspects are not for dating than give these to Mandy for finger prints," said Grissom.

"You're saying that the Mrs. Bianchi is a suspect?" asked Greg. Grissom turned and looked at Greg raising an eyebrow. Greg tried not to go red.

"Everyone is always a suspect, however when you have a small motive and means, plus finding the body first, it puts you at the top of the list," said Grissom. Greg nodded and Grissom walked off.

"Sounded a little worried, something up?" asked Sara.

"Nope, let's get to work," said Greg.

"_Jenna has changed a lot, but she would never kill someone,"_ thought Greg.

Unaware that her life was under the microscope of CSI, Jenna headed home after calling someone to fix the back door and get a security system in place tomorrow morning and making sure that a cleaning crew was coming out. She made sure everything was under control at the Henderson shop before leaving towards home. She got in the car and found her Flogging Molly cd, finding the track she wanted she started driving home to Henderson.

_Well I know, I miss more than hit  
With a face that was launched to sink  
An' I seldom feel, the bright relief  
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday_

Yeah it had been the worst day since yesterday; she thought having her hair pulled and punched in the face by some spoiled rich bitch in her own bakery was shitty. Poor Lissa freaked out and had to be sent home, other customers in the shop left in hurry and Jenna was left nursing a sore spot near her eye and a bloody patch where the bitch pulled out a clump of hair. She came in this morning after a rough night, simply wanting to work only to find a dead body in her second home and finding out it was the spoiled bitch who hit her.

_If there's one thing I have said  
Is that the dreams I once had, now lay in bed  
As the four winds blow, my wits through the door  
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday_

And fucking Greg Sanders marching in and acting like, he didn't know her, being an ass to her in her own bakery and than throwing her decisions in her face. Like he was the king of smart moves.

_"Yeah the last time I checked he was the one who got his girlfriend…well probably his wife now…knocked up and he hated being with her and decided to stay with her anyway. Hell I had my doubts that it was his anyways, but it was his decision, I didn't throw it in his face…could have. What the fuck gives him the right to judge me. Fucking rich ass white boy from college who worked for beer money. I quit to see my mom through endless chemo, radiation treatments and two surgeries. I stayed after she got better to make sure that the business didn't go bankrupt because she didn't have the energy to deal with everything," _thought Jenna stepping on the gas a little more.

_Fallin' down to you sweet ground  
Where the flowers they bloom  
It's there I'll be found  
Hurry back to me, my wild calling  
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday  
_

She tried to stay in touch with him, wrote him every day when her mom was in the hospital. He sent the letters back. She tried e-mailing him, they bounced back to her. Phone calls went unreturned; her last resort was going to California, pound on his door and demand to know what his problem was! But her family came first and she wasn't leaving until she was sure her mother was okay. She was hurt and lonely, falling back in with Andy was dumb, but she was just tired of being alone. Her best friend, the person she fell in love with wasn't their when she needed him most and Andy was.

_"Saying yes to marrying him after being back together for only six months was dumb…it goes on the top ten list of Dumb Shit Jenna has done, but silly old me believed he changed, I mean he was with me at the hospital damn near everyday, he really seemed to care about me. He cared enough to stay engaged to me for years than waits till I leave town to see Frankie, Karen and Anya and tires to steal money from my bakery…shame that glass dish didn't hit him in the head when I threw it at him."  
_

_Though these wounds have seen no wars  
Except for the scars I have ignored  
And this endless crutch, well it's never enough  
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday_

_Hell says hello, well it's time to I should go  
To pastures green, that I've yet to see  
Hurry back to me, my wild calling  
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday_

Jenna got out of her car and headed into the house. The house was her mom's but with her dancing around Europe like a teenager on Spring Break she agreed to let Jenna stay in it. It was silly for Jenna to have an apartment in Vegas when only seven miles away was her childhood home that would either sit empty or be sold for well under market value due to the current housing market. Jenna collapsed in a chair, grabbed a pillow next to her and screamed into it, sometimes it helped on really shitty days just to scream, and sadly it wasn't working today. She sighed and headed to the back yard and started taking her clothes off the line.

_"Yeah laundry…you never let me down or act like an asshole."_ She was almost done when Ofilia came in the yard through the back gate.

"Everything went over a little bumpy at the shop here, but cakes went out, orders came in and now we're going to have adult drinks and you're going to tell me your deal with that cute little blond CSI." Jenna looked at her watch.

"It's hardly past noon." Ofilia shrugged.

"I think finding a dead body in our place of work throws out the rules of 'thou shall not drink before noon.' Besides you look like you could use a drink or several." Jenna tossed the last towel into a basket and followed Ofilia inside. Another perk to living back in Henderson was Ofilia lived two houses down, the two had grown up together and Jenna was the god mother to her daughter Millia, Ofilia had been working for Jenna's mother while Jenna went to school and was a great source of help and comfort when Jenna's mother started chemo. Jenna sat down and Ofilia made her a rum and coke.

"Now spill, what happened between you and the CSI?" Jenna took a huge drink before speaking.

"We met while I was in California, we worked at this same office, remember that little hell hole that paid around eight bucks an hour?"

Ofilia nodded and Jenna continued.

"I had the hugest crush on him and than I fell head over heels for the little nerd, but he was seeing someone else, one of those uptight valley girls that we hated and due to the fine proper upbringing I had I wasn't going to make a move and ruin someone relationship, plus he was my friend. I didn't have lots friends at school so I didn't want to mess it up, you know? So we were friends and than one day it finally clicked in his little brain that she was a bitch and that I was head over heels for him and that I would make a much better girlfriend. And he kissed me and it wasn't one of those little peck kisses, it was one of those, 'I may die in five minutes and I want a good one to remember' mixed in with 'I want you in so many ways right here and now' kisses. God I haven't been kissed like that in…forever." Jenna took another chug on the drink and thanked god for liquid courage.

"So we started seeing each other and two months later, Valley Bitch comes knocking on his door and tells him that he's her baby's daddy. Being the up right mature person he ended things with me to be with her and baby's mama. I had my doubts, I didn't think it was his or she was jerking his chain. But, he decided and I went back to being his friend, until he stopped talking to me. He didn't write me and all communication from my front got sent back to me and my final letter was the engagement announcement, hoping that he would realize that I was feed up and either come here and explain himself or just talk to me again, tell me why he wasn't talking to me. It was a petty, childish move on my part, but sending me back my letters without reason was really shitty. So thus ended my almost two-three year love affair with the white boy from California." Jenna finished her drink and Ofilia looked shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me this when you came home? I've known you since our diaper days and you're just now telling me about the love of you life."

"He wasn't the love of my life and when I came home, you had a toddler to take care of, I had my mom and I just didn't wanna talk about it," said Jenna going to make another rum and coke, maybe even call out for pizza she wasn't in the mood to cook, drowning her day in booze and pizza did sound great however.

"That is such bullshit; you two had a serious thing even if it only lasted a few months, I can hear it your voice. You still love him don't you?"

"He's probably married." Jenna poured more rum into the glass than coke and started drinking.

"Oh my god, you are still in love with him," shrieked Ofilia.

"No I'm in shock over seeing again after not seeing or speaking to him in almost eight years." Ofilia gave her a hug.

"He hurt you really bad didn't he?"

"He outdid Andy on the 'Let's screw Jen over scale.'" Jenna found some Skittles she had in the cupboard and started munching on them. "I should call my mom and talk to her before I get too hammered. Can you order a pizza, with lots of meats and stuffed crust and other things that will kill me someday?" asked Jenna.

"Sure." Ofilia took the landline phone and started placing an order. Jenna popped some more Skittles in her mouth and used her cell phone to call her mother.

"_You know I wouldn't have fallen for him if not for the damn Skittles."_

Love it, hate it, review it please.


	8. Drinking games

Drinking games in the office

November 1996 Stanford, California

"This is unacceptable! Take this back to Rick and tell him to do it again," snapped Barb. Greg looked at Jenna and grinned; both raised their water glasses and took a sip. It was a new game they had come up with the other day. Greg has pointed out that work would be more entertaining with rum and drinking games.

"We can't get the rum, but we could have the drinking games," said Jenna. Greg looked confused.

"How can you have a drinking game without booze?"

"Instead of booze, we have water or any other non booze drink and let's say every time Barb says something is 'Unacceptable' you take a sip of said drink."

"How about every time Marv losses at free cell and lets out that little sigh," suggested Greg.

"Or when Laura from HR comes to our side of the room, looks lost and than goes back to her side of the room without saying anything." Greg laughed.

"She does that like four times a day."

"So are we on for work drinking games?"

"Hell yeah!" So the games began. Due to Barb's foul mood that day and Marv's losing streak they had finished over four large cups of water. Jenna finished her fifth glass and went over to Greg's desk.

"Need a refill?"

"Yep and I have to pee again."

"See it's just like a real drinking game."

"But without the warm fuzzies," said Greg.

"Or making a jackass out of one's self," said Jenna.

"What are you two doing," said Barb from the copier.

"Getting ready to go on afternoon break," said Greg.

"The way you two slack off is unacceptable," Barb huffed off leaving Greg and Jenna trying not to laugh.

"Another round coming up," said Jenna heading for the break room. Greg went the bathroom and Jenna was looking at the pop machines with disappointment when he came back.

"What's up?" Greg asked getting some Reese Peanut Butter Cups from the vending machine.

"Just wishing we had some Pepsi here, well Cherry Pepsi but its all coke and that makes me sad."

"Picky aren't we?"

"Sue me I like Cherry Pepsi and I think coke, which has no rum in it is the devil."

"Thank god we work the same days it you were in class when I worked I would blow my brains out," said Greg.

"That bored huh?"

"Well the drinking game is fun, but not has fun as these little chats. You should come up with a reason to stop by my desk more often," said Greg.

"I would chat with you more. However, Barb would yell and than I would snap and we would be chatting behind plate glass," said Jenna.

"Than we need a reason for you to come see me. Umm, what's your favorite candy?" Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Well you may need a candy fix to get through the day. Your candy, my desk, it's an excuse."

"A poor one."

"Come on tell me please?" Jenna smiled; he was like a little kid grinning ear to ear and his eyes were shining.

"I like Skittles, just the regular kind, not the sour ones or the odd flavored ones. Just regular Skittles," said Jenna getting some more water. Greg tossed his candy wrapper away.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Hey, I was going to ask. Why are you all so dressed up today? Your hair is even staying flat. Do you have a meeting with the Pope, because I can translate for you." Greg was wearing a pair of black dress slacks with a dark green dress shirt and tie.

_"He's too damn cute for his own good. Why couldn't Mitch hire an old lady instead, it would make my life a whole lot easier?"_ thought Jenna.

"I'm meeting Dana's parents tonight and I wanted to make a good impression." He did a little turn and Jenna nodded.

"Helps if your tie is straight." Greg looked down horrified and Jenna laughed. "Sucker!" She headed back to her desk and tried to ignore that little off putting feeling in her stomach about Greg meeting Dana's parents.

_"Parent meetings are for serious or semi-serious dating. Dana doesn't strike me as the serious girlfriend type,"_ thought Jenna. Jenna had met Dana a few times, she would show up when they had pizza down the street from the office. On the surface, Jenna couldn't see why the hell they were a couple…than again people couldn't see on the surface why she and Andy had dated for so long. But Dana was one of those bleach blond Valley Girls that Jenna would love to throttle for being annoying. She even had that annoying perky laugh. Jenna went back to her work but her mind was elsewhere.

_"I mean he's a sweetie and he's really smart…she annoying and not the sharpest tool in the shed…well at least when we had lunch together she struck me as vapid and dull, but I'm sure when her and Greg are alone it's a different story. I mean what is your issue Jenna. He's your co-worker, he's been your co-worker for about four months now and your friend and you need to get over this silly crush of yours." _ Jenna stopped typing and muttered to herself annoyed.

_"_ _Way to go, you have a serious crush issue with your co-worker. At least you finally have the guts to admit it, at least to yourself. Look he's a nice guy and a friend, you can always use a nice guy friend, he can set up with people you don't work with and aren't dating other people. Plus you don't have a lot of friends out here, and he's been a really good friend. Let's not weird him out with your crush issue and besides he's dating someone and you're not the type to break up couples."_ She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost jumped out of her chair. Greg laughed.

"Wow you were really into that. Do you want to go home or keep working?" Jenna looked at the clock and realized it was past five.

"I totally spaced out." She put her stuff away and walked out with Greg.

"I'm really nervous, I mean she wants me to meet her parents."

"Just charm them with your sweet little self."

"It's nice that you think that but, Oh shit," cried Greg. Jenna looked at Greg's car and saw that the front tire was flat.

"No biggie." Greg looked shocked.

"What! My tire is flat and it's going to make me late! I'm so screwed and not in the good way!"

"Do you have a spare tire?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah!"

"Than you can change it and be on your way."

"I don't know how to change a tire," said Greg. Now it was Jenna's turn to look shocked.

"You're joking."

"I'm not! I never had to because my parents had Triple A." Jenna walked over to the car and bent down.

"Well you learn something new everyday. Can you hand me the jack and the spare tire?"

"You're going to change the tire?" Greg sounded skeptical.

"My mom is widow and when my older brother went away to college in Chicago, she told me that 'a man would not always be around to help us' and she not only taught me how to change a tire, but to change my oil and air filters. Now can I have that jack please?" Greg handed her the tire and the jack. Jenna got the tire off and found why it went flat. "You ran over some glass, but you can take it to a service station and get it patched and refilled." It took her a few minutes to get the spare on, but it went on okay and she put the flat and the jack in the trunk.

"Ta dah!" said Jenna.

"I'm very impressed, sorry you ruined you pants though." Jenna had gotten grease on them and she knew the stains wouldn't be coming off. She would have to bend her tight budget to get some new ones for work.

"I'll just have to cave and buy some new pants is all."

"I owe you."

"Nah we're friends. You should get going or you'll be late," said Jenna.

"You are the best," said Greg and he hopped into the car. "See ya tomorrow afternoon." Jenna waved goodbye and started walking the few blocks back to her apartment.

_"You could have not done that, you could have pretended to have no clue how to change a tire, made him late and messed up the parent meeting," _ thought Jenna. She sighed and shook her head. "_But that's wrong, he's your friend and you want him to be happy. It's time to forget about it, it's a crush nothing will ever come from it." _

Jenna's tune changed the next afternoon when she came in after classes. Greg got their before her and was working away. Jenna looked on her desk and found a small bag of Skittles, a can of Cherry Pepsi and a white envelope bearing her name. She opened the envelope; in it was a thank you card and a gift card to Target's for 30 dollars. She looked over at Greg who was wearing his trademark ear to ear grin. Jenna took the gift card and walked over to his desk.

"I can't accept this," she said trying to give him back the gift card.

"Please Jen, you were a huge help last night and Dana's parents were surprised about how punctual I was and I was able to charm them with my sweet self. Plus I got this," Greg pulled out a small candy dish and a large bag of Skittles. "More reasons for you to come and visit me." She sighed.

"Fine you've twisted my arm. I should start working before Barb comes a calling." She looked down at the gift card again. "Thanks."

"Anytime," said Greg turning back to his PC. Jenna sat down and opened her Skittles.

_"You know you dated Andy for years and he could never remember that you liked Skittles. He always got you M&M's or Reese's Pieces, you remind him again and he would still forget."_ Jenna looked over at Greg and felt that little off putting feeling in her stomach. _"Fuck crush…way to go Jenna you have fallen head over heels for your un-datable coworker."_ An e-mail popped up from Greg and she heard Marv sigh as he lost a game of free cell.

"You wanna play the drinking game before I leave?" read the email.

"Sure."

Love it, hate it, review it please.


	9. Up on the rooftop

Up on the rooftop

Greg was allowed to go home, sleep for a few hours before going back in. Nick had called him, saying an older woman had come in to file a missing person report for Linda Stesiak; Grissom wanted Nick and Greg to talk to her and give them an update on the case.

Greg met Nick at the Lab and they headed to The Strip to talk to the victim's mother in law at her hotel room. Greg was sipping his coffee and looking at out the window thinking. Nick was driving and he couldn't stand the younger man's brooding anymore and was bounded and determined to snap him out of it

"For Christ's sakes Greg if you still like her that much find out way she stopped talking to you and why she was going to get married?" Greg looked at Nick.

"What?"

"This mood you're in is driving me nuts and people are wondering where is Happy Greg and I'm keeping my mouth shut about you and the cake lady, but I don't know how much longer I can keep covering for Pissy Greg. So be a man and talk to her."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"Did you hear Grissom last night, 'suspects are not for dating' or something similar to what Grissom said last night."

"You're not dating her G; it's a chat between old friends. Unless you wanna date her again."

"I rather date Hodges at least he's predictable."

"Wow you are depressed."

"I just want this case closed so I can get some sleep. Three hours of sleep versus the twenty one hours I've been working is a bad combo," said Greg.

"Fine, but once this case is closed I want you to do one of two things. One. You go back to being Happy Greg. Two. If you're going to stay Pissy Greg than have a reason to be Pissy, find out why she stopped talking to you. Find out why she was planning on getting married even though you asked her to wait for you." Nick pulled into a parking space and both men got out.

"You don't think she did it do you?" asked Nick.

"Jenna's a lot of things, but I know she's not a killer," said Greg. The two took an elevator to the sixth floor and found the room that was registered to Mary Ann Brooks. Nick knocked on the door and a tall older woman with blond hair and bloodshot eyes answered the door.

"Mrs. Brooks?" asked Nick. She nodded.

"I'm Nick Stokes and this is Greg Sanders and we're with the Crime Lab do you mind if we ask you some questions?"

"No, come in please," she held open the door for them and closed it behind them. "You're here to talk about Linda aren't you? I saw her at the morgue, god what kind of person would do that. She was a pain in my ass, I'll admit that, she wasn't who I had in mind for a daughter in-law, but I didn't want her dead. No one deserves that, my son is in the next room, they had to give him a sedative to calm him down. I'll try my best to answer your questions." Mary Ann took a sip of water and sat down across from Nick and Greg.

"Can you tell us what happened the day before Linda died?" asked Nick.

"My son and Linda decided that a Vegas wedding would be easier than one in New York. It's all been a huge whirlwind, they we're to get married here with our family than go back to New York for a reception. Linda wanted a cake for after the ceremony, I told her that we could get a small cake from the hotel, but she wanted one from a bakery she read about in Modern Bride. I honestly think she wanted to come here just for a cake. So we set up the tasting and the lady who helped us was very kind, but when she told Linda that what she wanted would be impossible, Linda lost her temper."

"I think pulling someone's hair and hitting them is a little more than losing your temper," said Greg. He still couldn't help but feel a little pissed off that someone hit Jenna over something retarded like a cake.

_"Focus Greg…on work."_

"Like I said she's wasn't the ideal daughter in law. I was just happy the owner wasn't going to press charges and I didn't have to bride her not too. I took Linda back to the hotel, she took one of her little downers, and we did the final fittings on gowns, and made sure the rooms were booked. Around nine, Linda said she was tired and went to bed. My son and I went out, came back around 11 and Linda wasn't here, we thought maybe she had gone for a walk or went to a casino, so we went to bed and Linda wasn't back. We we're told we had to wait twenty four hours before a missing person reporting could be filed." She took another sip of water, and sighed.

"I found out that she had been dead for at least twenty two of those twenty four hours."

"Did Linda take anything with her wallet, cell phone, hotel keys?" asked Nick.

"They were all in her purse and when we saw her and the purse gone we just assumed she went gambling. I mean this is Vegas after all."

"How was Linda after you got her out the bakery?" asked Greg.

"Pissed off, ranting the whole back to the hotel. She told me one way or another she was getting a cake from that bakery." Greg and Nick exchanged a look, it seemed to click in both their minds that maybe, Linda broke into the bakery, but it didn't figure out who killed her.

When they got back to the lab, Mandy ran up to greet them and was waving test results.

"And you don't even have to sing for them. The prints on the rolling pin belong to the owner. Hey you feeling alright Greg, you look a little pasty."

"Yeah fine, just need a few hours of sleep is all. You sure about the prints?" Mandy looked highly insulted.

"I printed both ends and all the prints were hers and only hers."

"Print the whole rolling pin, please Mandy?" asked Nick.

"I hope you tell Grissom about my overtime," said Mandy taking back her test results. Greg started walking towards the locker room with Nick on his heels.

_"No way, no god damn way," _thought Greg. _"Prints don't lie though…"_

"Greg chill, it's a bakery; her prints were bound to be on it."

"But her prints only. Nick you know that doesn't look good for anyone," said Greg quietly.

"Look, let's go back and ask some more questions. Do you think you can keep your cool?" Greg looked pissed.

"Yes."

"I know it's hard to deal with cases that involve people that you've care about at one point or another, but keeping your head straight is key. It helps you and it helps them Greggo," said Nick. Greg nodded. "I'll see you back at the jeep." Nick headed off and Greg took a deep breath.

_"Keep my head straight, easier said than done."_

From the looks of business traffic, the small local news story about Linda being killed in the back didn't slow down business any. Greg and Nick walked in the front where Ofilia was seating couples down for a cake tasting. She spotted Nick and Greg and told the couples to wait just one moment.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, we have a few more questions we need to ask Miss. Bianchi," said Nick. Ofilia eyed Greg and turned back to Nick.

"She's in the kitchen," said Ofilia and she turned around and muttered. "It's una vergüenza su pequeño amigo rubio es tal tirón o engancharía tan para arriba con usted." Nick grinned.

"Por supuesto tome su lado, pero don't me juzgan basado en él." Ofilia turned around and grinned.

"Lo que," she went back to the customers.

"What did she say?" asked Greg.

"Never mind," said Nick opening the door leading to the kitchen. Greg and Nick were bombarded by the sounds of the Clash, Rock the Casbah. They shut door and Julia and two other women looked up.

"What?" asked Julia turning off the music and glaring.

"Looking for Jenna, we were told she was in here," said Nick.

"Oh Lissa was freaking out about being in the kitchen, Jenna took her up to the roof to talk her."

"The roof?" asked Greg. Julia shrugged.

"It's private, relaxing and we have parities on it sometimes. If you go through that door it will take you up the roof."

"Thanks sugar," said Nick to the goth girl and Greg followed him up the stairs. They opened the door to the roof and found Jenna and a young girl with short red hair sitting at a table. The roof was covered in gravel and had a few picnic tables and a swing set. The girl with red hair was very upset and Jenna was comforting her.

"Trust me we all screw up at some point and no one is perfect. You're doing a good job Lissa." The young girl let out a tired smile.

"I needed to hear that."

"Excuse me ladies," called out Nick. Both looked up and Jenna let out a sigh and stood up. Greg had to admit that even though he was pissed at Jenna, she was still a beautiful woman. She was wearing blue jeans and a black tank top that showed off her mid-drift slightly and showed off a small belly button ring. Her hair was down and was much longer than he remembered it being, almost to her waist.

_"Damn it…work…focus on work."_

"Lissa are you alright to go in the kitchen or would you rather be in the office?"

"I'll see you in the kitchen. Umm should I leave my bracelet in your office?" asked Lissa.

"Just give it to me at the end of the day, I'll try to fix it," said Jenna. The young girl nodded and head back downstairs. Jenna than turned her attention to Greg and Nick.

"Can I help you two?" asked Jenna.

"Maybe, we found your prints on the rolling pin that was used to kill Linda Stesiak. Can you explain that?" asked Nick. Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"It's a bakery, I use rolling pins it's a common tool."

"Your prints were the only ones we found." Jenna looked slightly pale.

"Is it a white rolling pin with flowers on it?" Nick nodded and Jenna looked a little relieved.

"I was wondering where that went, my brother got it for me has a Quinceañera gift. I'm the only one who uses that pin, so of course my prints are on it."

"Does everyone here know that's your pin and your pin alone?" asked Greg. Jenna rolled her eyes and Nick could feel that both of them wanted to snap at each other.

"Yes everyone here knows that my pin, I've had it for over fifteen years. Anything else?"

"Not right now, thank you," said Greg. Jenna turned to walk back down the stairs when Nick called out.

"Ok, you two are acting like little kids and it's annoying. Jenna, he's driving me crazy, Greg you're staying up here and you two will talk out whatever issues you have." Nick turned and left the rooftop, Jenna glared at Greg.

"You told him about us, what the hell?"

"He heard you blow up at me yesterday morning, so I had to explain." Jenna turned her back on him and looked out to the skyline.

"Well you deserved it." Greg's jaw dropped.

"I deserved that. Would you mind sharing with the class why?" Jenna turned around and Greg could see she was getting ready to start throwing words like bombs.

"You come into my business, my life, and have the balls to tell me I screwed up my life. You…of all the people in the world have no right to start judging the choices made by others. Yeah I wanted to go back and finish school, but my responsibilities were here and still are. You made your decision and chose your family, I did the same thing. So don't you even start throwing stones at me Greg Sanders. Now get off my roof, get out of my business and find out who killed that lady." Jenna turned around and sat on the swing facing away from Greg he was trying not to shake with anger.

_"You broke my heart how's that for throwing stones. I asked you to wait and than you cut me out of your life like it was nothing, you were my friend first and foremost and when you left it hurt so much that little things like sleeping and eating were damn near meaningless. I almost wish we had never met."_

"Fine by me," Greg turned and slammed the door leading back downstairs shut. Jenna waited till he was gone and started to cry, she didn't know how long she had been sitting their when Ofilia sat down next to her.

"Men…they always know how to push the right buttons." Jenna nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Thank god I don't wear makeup, I'll be down in a few minutes okay." Ofilia nodded and went back downstairs.

_"Well it's not the first time he's made you cry,"_ thought Jenna before getting back to work.

Ofilia and Nick's brief exchange.

It's a shame your little blond friend is such a jerk or I would so hook up with you-Ofilia

Of course take her side, but don't judge me based on him.-Nick

Whatever-Ofilia

Writers note-I know most of the flashbacks so far have been Jenna's POV, but it helps understand where she's coming from, character development is good. Flashbacks from Greg's POV are coming in the next few chapters. I swear -

Love it, hate it review it please.


	10. Beach day

Beach day

July 1997-Palo Alto, California

"So you've never been surfing?" asked Greg with disbelief.

"What part of 'I grew up near Las Vegas, Nevada' do we not understand. I lived in the desert, I can make a kick ass sand castle though." Greg shook his head.

"I'm so teaching you how to surf this Saturday." Mitch had decided to take the whole office to the beach for the company picnic and Greg was shocked that Jenna had been in California for almost two years and she hadn't seen the ocean or done any other beach related activity. They were finishing up lunch in the break room when Roberto walked in, his face went a little pink when he looked at Jenna.

"Ciao," Jenna shook her head.

"In English, I would like to think all my tutoring isn't going to waste." Roberto was an exchange student from Italy last year, but got a work visa and was working with Jenna and Greg until October. Jenna had been spending some of her off hours teaching him more American English.

"Spiacente…I mean sorry. So are you going to the beach day this weekend?"

"Yep, Greg says he's going to teach me how to surf. I've been trying to tell him I would be a poor student."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, you're very smart," said Roberto.

"Sadly smarts don't factor in when fighting a wave." Jenna looked at the clock. "My prison cell is calling me back, see you later." Greg and Jenna headed back to their desks and Greg was smirking so much Jenna had to ask.

"Seriously what is with that shit eating grin? Did you prank Barb again? Did you give up more of your porn stash for the greater good?"

"You and Roberto," said Greg.

"What about me and Roberto?"

"He likes you."

"Well good that means about 50 some people like me." Greg sighed.

"He likes you, likes you. You know in the 'he would like to date you' likes you." Jenna started laughing.

"No way, I mean he's nice, but no," said Jenna sitting down.

"Why not, I mean when was the last time you went on a date?" Jenna frowned.

"I think you were there the last time I went on a date. I ended up with puke on my shoes."

Greg and Dana had decided a few months back that she needed to be set up with one of Dana's friends from work. By the end of the night, Jenna felt the urge to stab herself in the face, because the guy was a jerk. One of those, 'my parents donated a building and that's how I got into this school' jerks. Thankful it had been a double date with Greg and Dana and to anyone who didn't know, it looked like Jenna and Greg were dating, because they people who they were really with got hammered and had to be taken home early. Jenna was helping her 'date' out of the car when he pulled a Linda Blair on her new dress shoes. It was all she could do to fight the urge to throw him in front of a car.

"I told you Dana and I were really sorry about that. Dana thought you guys would get along," said Greg.

"_Yeah Dana knows me about as well as she knows you, which is not at all."_ Jenna had tried really hard to give Dana the benefit of the doubt about being Greg's girlfriend, but she was such a cow about some things. Like she forgot Greg's birthday, Jenna had made it a point to get Greg a cake, a card and one of those annoying singing balloons which sang when touched and it annoyed Barb all day much to Greg's delight. Even if she wasn't in head over heels for him she still would have done it as his friend. When he came in the next day all moody she found out that Dana had not only forgotten his birthday, but she went to a concert with a group of friends and didn't even tell Greg. When her and Dana had been talking at the Christmas party and she told Jenna she was glad Greg had a friend at work, that way he wasn't all yap, yap, yap when he came home. Jenna sat their wishing the punch had been spiked.

"_God she has no clue how wonderful he really is."_

"I'm still kind of leery about getting back into the whole dating thing," said Jenna.

"I'm sure he's a nice guy," said Greg.

"Who's going to be going back to Italy in a few months. I'm not against long distance things, but an ocean is a little too long distance," said Jenna. Greg shrugged.

"You'll never know unless you try." Jenna nodded and Greg went over to his desk.

Saturday was beautiful day and the beach wasn't too crowded despite it being prime time for all the kids out of school and families on vacations. Jenna had got a ride with Mitch and was helping him set up some of the party stuff. A few of their co-workers had got to the beach earlier and had staked out their spots. Jenna spotted much to her disappointment Dana, however where there was Dana there was Greg. She made sure everything was alright with Mitch and headed over to Dana. Jenna always felt physical inferior to Dana, who was the typical big boobs, little waist, no brains cheerleader type. She was wearing a two piece pink bikini and Jenna was surprised that her top was able to stand the strain.

_"God Jenna you can be such a bitch,"_ she thought but than she remember how upset Greg was when she forgot his birthday. _"However, I'm sure she could out do me in a bitch contest."_ Jenna set up her towel and other stuff near Dana.

"Hey." Dana was applying suntan lotion and wearing those retarded little tanning bed sunglasses. She looked at Jenna, who was wearing shorts and a tee shirt and Jenna wished that she had worn her two piece instead of the one piece she had under her clothes.

"Greg is out their with some guy from accounting. Greg told me you've never been to the beach," said Dana.

"Well if you consider the desert a beach without an ocean than I've been at the beach my whole life." Dana chuckled and lay down in a foldout lounge chair.

"He was bounded and determine to get me on one of those damn boards, I told him that hell would freeze over first, I have ever intention on leaving here with a perfect tan and not getting swimmers ear." Jenna wanted to go over to Mitch and ask for one the half inflated beach balls so she could throw in Dana's face. Jenna took off her shorts and tee shirt and looked out towards the ocean. She could understand now why people were shocked she hadn't been out here yet, it was beautiful. She saw Greg and Leo from Accounting coming back to shore. Greg was wearing a pair of Hawaiian patterned shorts and that silly grin of his. He spotted Jenna and waved, Jenna waved back and started heading towards the water.

"So what do think of the Pacific?" asked Greg when they met at shore.

"It's beautiful, and from the looks of you very cold." Greg was shivering and had goose bumps all over his exposed torso.

"It's nothing once you're in the water, come on." He handed his board to Leo, grabbed her hand and started dragging her closer to the water.

"I'm not ready to go in yet," she protested.

"You don't have shoes on and you're in a swimsuit, I think you're ready to go in," said Greg pulling her in so the water touched her toes.

"It's cold. Oh my god," she shrieked. Greg took the opportunity to grab Jenna around the waist and toss her in to a deep part of the water.

"See it's not that bad once you're really in it." Jenna surfaced and was shivering. She glared at Greg who was laughing so hard he was crying.

"Oh you think it's funny," Jenna splashed him in the face causing Greg to swallow some salt water and cough. When his coughing fit ended, he looked at Jenna was smirking

"It is so on," said Greg who splashed back at Jenna and missed

"I told you I wasn't ready to go in and now it's pay back time," she splashed at him again and got in his eyes.

"Shit my eyes." Jenna felt horrible and went over to him.

"Let me see." Greg stopped rubbing his eyes and grinned.

"Sucker." Greg tried to pick her up again, but Jenna was putting up quite a fight and both of them ended up going down.

"God you two are like little kids, I swear if I didn't know any better I think you were related," called out Laura from HR.

"He tried to drown me Laura, I'm sure there's a company policy against drowning your fellow worker," yelled Jenna. Greg came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist and Jenna felt herself trying not blush and fighting the urge to get closer to him.

"I didn't try to drown you I was showing you that the ocean is your friend." She turned around and realized how close they were and that not a lot of clothing was between them and she felt herself go red. She slide out of his grip and took the opportunity to push him into the water.

"Tell the ocean I said hello." Jenna started walking back towards the shore and she could almost hear her good angel, bad angel fighting with each other.

_"Oh my god…what is your problem? Not only is he smart and sweet he has one hell of body, I'm telling you to go back there and get one quick feel on him." _ She got back to shore and started drying off.

_"That's wrong, he's you're friend how would you feel if he got one quick feel on you?" _ the bad angel and Jenna were in agreement on this one.

_"We would like it a lot."_ Jenna sat down on her towel and noticed Dana was sleeping. And all three of them agreed on this.

_"Let her stay on that side and burn." _

Closer to nightfall, Mitch and some of the other guys started a bon fire on the beach and Mitch called everyone together.

"Ok every one we are going to play some games to get to know each other a little better. Don't worry it's not a three legged race Laura, I remember last summer," said Mitch.

"I still have the scars," cried Laura. The group laughed and turned back to Mitch.

"I decided that this year we would do something more mental and less physical. So to start things off with a bang, we're going to play a little game of Who would you do, followed by Would you rather and I think just for fun I want everyone here by the end of the day to do something that scares them a little," said Mitch. "Start us off Mary." Mary was the grandmother who worked the front desk.

"Can it be anyone, even people we work with?" asked Mary.

"Well ya, but…" started Mitch.

"Greg." Jenna nearly choked on her soda and Greg looked like he wanted to go back in the water and drown himself.

"I second that," said a group of the older phones ladies. Jenna started giggling uncontrollable.

"You think it's funny?" said Greg with panic in his voice.

"Just think, you're popular. And I think they would take very good care of you, maybe even clean your room or do your dishes, just like a mom should." Dana came back and sat down between Jenna and Greg.

"So what are we playing?"

"Who would you do?" said Mitch.

"Oh…umm that cute guy who does security for you guys," said Dana. Greg looked crestfallen.

"My name is Tony," who was sitting three people away from Jenna. He waved and took his wife's hand.

"Ok," said Mitch who was starting to realize that maybe this was a bad game to play with this group. "Jenna who would you do?"

_"GREG…by the time we finished with him he wouldn't be able to walk anymore!" _cried the bad angel.

"Oh Marv, hands down." Marv who was pushing close to three hundred pounds and old enough to be Jenna's father laughed. "I mean he has that teddy bear thing and we could cuddle afterwards and eat some brownies, watch some I Love Lucy. It would be great." Everyone was laughing, expect for Barb.

"Ok, this was a bad idea. I'm sorry I suggested we even play it. The food is ready for people who want to eat. Got some beer and wine coolers over there, just have at people," said Mitch. Jenna was grinning and went to go get some food when she heard Greg talking to Dana in his pissed off voice

"Why wouldn't you do me? I'm your boyfriend and I would have picked you," said Greg. Jenna sensed an impending fight she really didn't want to be apart of. She got up and went to get some food.

"Hey," said Roberto holding a plate of food.

"Hey, I didn't think you were here," said Jenna getting some hot dogs.

"You were swimming, I'm not much of a swimmer so I was playing volleyball." Jenna nodded and added some chips to her plate.

"You're very funny with the Marv thing," stammered Roberto.

"Now how do you know, I wouldn't do Marv for real?" asked Jenna.

"Because if you're the girl I think you are you want someone you love to 'do it' with not anyone who walks in. And you're not in love with Marv." Jenna felt her face flame up and she turned to look at Roberto, but he was already chatting with Mary and the older phone ladies.

_"Oh god how the hell does he know"_ thought Jenna terrified of what would happen if everyone found out about her crush on Greg. Jenna turned to find Greg and saw him sitting by the shore alone staring out. Jenna put her food down and went over to him. He looked annoyed and pissed off throwing small rocks and shells into the ocean.

"You know, people don't throw things at their friends. And considering the ocean is your friend, it's not cool to throw things at her." Greg ducked his head and gave her the smallest of smiles.

"I just don't get Dana sometimes." Jenna felt like her heart stopped for a second.

_"Oh my god, they could break up…I could finally tell him everything and not feel like my heart's going to burst every time he gives you that little look or a smile here. It would be so god damn liberating."_

"So I saw you talking with Roberto, what did he want?"

"Nothing." Jenna looked at Greg and the odd silence between them became apparent.

_"Do it…fucking tell him, stop being such a coward about this. Tell him how crazy he makes you and how he can make your morning better with just a smile. JUST SPIT IT OUT!!!!!"_ screamed both parts of herself. Greg stood up.

"I'm going to get some food, do you want any?"

"Yeah. I'll be there in a second." Greg walked away and Jenna picked up the largest rock she could find and threw it in the ocean.

Jenna was sitting with one of the older phone lady groups eating a brownie; they were talking about Mitch's assignment about something that scares you.

"I'm only scared of two things, death and taxes," said Mary. "At my age what else is there." The group laughed and Jenna looked over and saw Greg sitting with Mitch and a group of accountants. They seemed to be deep in conversation about something.

"What scares you?" asked Lily one of the older phone ladies

"Huh?" said Jenna.

"You what scares you?"

"Spiders, snakes, monkeys throwing poop," said Jenna.

"Ah to be young again and fear such foolish things," said Mary.

"What's that mean?" asked Jenna.

"You're not scared of dying, illness, being alone the rest of your life. The future is one shiny toy," said Mary. Jenna was little worried about how much booze the old lady had taken in.

"Remember this sweet heart, never hesitate, because once you hesitate the moment is gone and won't come back and someday you'll sit their and wonder why you didn't do it," said Lily. It was like being hit on the head with a hammer, she knew it all along, but it was the kick in the head she needed.

_"It scares you how hard you've fallen and now you're scared to admit it. We are marching over their and telling him now," _screamed her thoughts.

"I'll be right back," said Jenna getting up and heading over to Greg when Roberto stopped her.

"Jenna, can I…"

"I'm scared of being alone and not having the person I'm in love with know that I love him," she said it so fast, but so quietly Roberto was the only one to hear her. She marched past him and over to Greg.

"Hey Greg can we…" Dana walked over and sat next to Greg, totally ignoring that Jenna was standing there

"Sweetie are you still mad about that silly game?" Greg's attention went to Dana and Jenna felt her heart start to sink.

"Sort of, I mean what the hell?" asked Greg. Dana smiled at him and Jenna wanted to smack her.

"It was a silly game I mean come on Jenna was going to sleep with the old man and no one is razing her about that. It was joke and I was joking, you're the one I want to sleep with." She gave Greg a hug and he hugged her back.

"Sorry for getting all pissy," said Greg. The group clapped and whistled when Greg and Dana shared a make up kiss.

_"NONONO GOD DAMNIT NO!" _ Jenna walked away unnoticed. She sat down by the shore and started to cry quietly. She felt someone sit next her, she looked up and saw Mitch.

"Hey what's with the waterworks sweetie?"

"It's nothing."

"Nothing, doesn't make a girl sit on the beach and cry. Tell good ole' Mitch what's going on? You seemed kind of worked up when you went to talk to Greg a bit a go, do you want me to get him for you?"

"No god no, anyone but him," snapped Jenna. Mitch handed Jenna a paper towel he had in his hands.

"It's about him isn't it?" Jenna nodded.

"I kind of have a thing for Greg. Don't know why, it's not like he notices me when Dana's around. But, he smart and funny and caring and I don't what's wrong with me any more."

"If you like him so much why don't you tell him?"

"I was going to until he started sucking face with that vapid person who says she's his girlfriend." She wiped her eyes again. "It's just wasted time, that's all it is. I'm his friend, that's all I'm going to be. I should be just happy with that. Thank you for listening to me for five minutes. And if this could stay between us that be great" She went into the water and splashed some water on her face and headed back to the fire pit.

"One thing that scares me is the water, so I went into this afternoon. I nearly drowned as a child so it was scared but cool," said Roberto. The group clapped and Mitch turned to Jenna.

"So what scares you?" Jenna sighed and stood up.

"I hate singing in front of people, like large groups of people, even though I did choir for years I still get sick to my stomach doing it. So I'm going to sing right here and now.

_You'll remember me when the west wind moves  
Upon the fields of barley  
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky  
As we walk in the fields of gold_

So she took her love  
For to gaze awhile  
Upon the fields of barley  
In his arms she fell as her hair came down  
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love  
Among the fields of barley  
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky  
As we lie in the fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so  
Upon the fields of barley  
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth  
Among the fields of gold  
I never made promises lightly  
And there have been some that I've broken  
But I swear in the days still left  
We'll walk in the fields of gold  
We'll walk in the fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days  
Among the fields of barley  
See the children run as the sun goes down  
Among the fields of gold  
You'll remember me when the west wind moves  
Upon the fields of barley  
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky  
When we walked in the fields of gold  
When we walked in the fields of gold  
When we walked in the fields of gold

Jenna did a mock bow and sat down to people clapping.

"Well that wraps up the Summer Party 97, I hope you all had fun tonight," said Mitch. People started gathering up their stuff and Jenna went over to Roberto.

"Sorry I was short with you earlier." He shrugged.

"I've known how you felt about him, it's written on your face all the time. But, I was hoping that maybe you'll give me a chance, a chance for someone who is free to care about you the way you should be cared about."

_"Remember this sweet heart, never hesitate, because once you hesitate the moment is gone and won't come back and someday you'll sit their and wonder why you didn't do it."_

"Wanna go out for some coffee?"

"When?" Jenna saw Greg and Dana still kissing near the shore and made up her mind.

"How about now?"

Writer's notes-

Not sure if there is a beach near Palo Alto, but it was close to Stanford so it made sense to go that way.

The song-for those who don't know is Sting-Fields of Gold- it's a little melancholy and it seemed to fit Jenna's mood at the time about letting go.


	11. When your cover is blown

When your cover is blown

Vegas-2005

Nick was finally able to start working the background checks on Jenna and the staff at the bakery. He gave Greg the task of trying to track down the victim's missing credit card, hopefully some alone time would cool Greg off. He came back to the Jeep five minutes later, even more pissed off than he had been before. Nick knew better than to ask.

_"For two people who haven't talked in years, they sure know how to push each other's buttons,"_ thought Nick shifting through some more paperwork. He hated this end of the job, but someone had to do it and the overtime would be worth it. He took a sip of his coffee and started reading up on Jenna Bianchi. She had taken over the bakery from her mother a few years ago and despite it being on rocky ground financially when she took over it, she was able to turn that around rather quickly by getting some of the wedding chapels and hotels in town to sign contracts with her, she was their main provider of cakes and other desserts for special events. She was even signed with Sam Braun and his hotel chain.

_"Girl knows her business alright, to get her foot in the door with Sam at her age!" _thought Nick. A few more pages showed that she had created quite a name for herself in the wedding market, no small feat for a town based on the quickie weddings. Nick sighed, nothing here to show the makings of a killer. He tossed the file aside and went to the next one. Catherine and Sara walked in looking for a coffee fix.

"How goes the cake murder?" asked Catherine. Nick shrugged.

"Not going anywhere right now. Did you know that this bakery is Sam's cake dealer?" Catherine paused.

"I remember Sam telling me about a bakery that made him a cake shaped and decorated perfectly to look like a $100 chip. I think he said something like, 'talent like that needs to be in my casino.' Sam calls them up when he wants something buzz worthy." She sat down and stacked the files out of the way so Sara could sit too.

"Hey what's up with Greg, he's all sorts of foul right now?" asked Sara. Nick shrugged and buried his face in a file.

"Greggo just needs a nap." Catherine looked at Nick and smiled.

"Nicky." He lowered the file and liar was written all over his face. "You are a horrible liar and always will be. Now what's Greg's issue, everyone in the lab has noticed his nasty mood and it's depressing. Spill, so we can fix it."

"You can't tell anyone." Sara and Catherine leaned in. "Greg and Jenna, the owner of our crime scene, used to have a thing, from what I've heard ended badly and now they take turns being pissy with each other and I think the score is Jenna 2 Greg 0. And if Greg's this moody, I think he still has a thing for her and she probably still has a thing for him considering how fast she wants him gone when were around," said Nick.

"NO FREAKING WAY!" The group turned around and saw Hodges standing in the doorway with his mouth hanging open.

"The hot café lady and Sanders!!!! There is no god, none, not if Sanders was able to date that. Well screw it…wasted hours getting that number and I find out she's Sander's leftovers. Well he can have her back," snapped Hodges walking out of the break room. Nick dropped his head to the table.

"Greg's gonna kill me."

Greg was going over all the credit records for Linda Stesiak, since she left the hotel to right now it showed no activity. An alert had been put on all her credit cards and ATM card, someone would be dumb enough to use them sooner or later or else why bother taking them. He shifted back in his seat and took a sip of his tea when Hodges came in slamming in.

"She's yours I don't want her, if she was dating you something must be horribly wrong with her, I will not take your sloppy seconds Sanders." Greg almost dropped his tea.

"What the hell are you going on about Hodges?" Even though Greg had a good feeling where this was going he wanted to know how the hell Hodges found out about him and Jenna.

"You and the super hot bakery owner had a thing I heard Nick telling Sara and Catherine. There is no god, none at all if you were able to score with that. But, I have to ask, just to satisfy my curiosity what was she like in bed? I heard Mexican woman are crazy," said Hodges. Greg slammed down his mug and out of the room.

"I'll take that has a yes," called Hodges. Greg marched into the break room and found a sheepish looking Nick and a guilty looking Catherine and Sara.

"What the hell Nick? You told Hodges, which for all intents and purposes means the whole lab will know now. It was private, and I kept it that way for a reason. How would you feel if something you wanted private was known by everyone? Oh wait you should know, how did you feel when your fling with Kristy was lab fodder? Felt great didn't?" Nick stood up and slammed the file down and Sara and Catherine knew that Greg had bit off more than he could chew.

"First of all, don't you ever bring Kristy again, ever. Second of all, I didn't mean for Hodges to find out, but every one here has noticed your pissy mood involving this case and it's getting old. You either talk to her and I mean really talk to her or get over it and stop being an asshole," snapped Nick.

"You know what, I'm going to take a nap in my car and maybe when I wake up this will all be a bad dream," said Greg leaving the break room. Sara and Catherine exchanged looks.

"I'll talk to Nick, you take Greg," said Catherine. She went over to Nick. "Come on Nicky let's go for a walk." Sara finished her coffee and sighed.

_"Nothing like some good old fashioned Jerry Springer drama to liven a girl's day."_

Greg slammed his car door shut and set his cell phone to alarm. He put the seat back and tried to remember a breathing technique he learned ages ago to calm his nerves.

_"Fucking Nick telling Sara, Catherine and Hodges_ _now the whole lab going to be a gossiping about I banged the bakery chick. I just asked him to keep it quite and he blabs…bad as freaking Mitch in Stanford."_

September 1997-Stanford

Greg sighed and looked at the clock again, almost noon. He looked over at Jenna's empty desk and groaned. Since school started up again their work schedules had shifted a lot. He worked Monday and Wednesday and did class Tuesday and Thursday. Jenna worked all week, but came in late on Monday and Wednesday because of her classes, the only time he really got to see her was on Friday, but he felt like he was competing for her attention. Ever since she started dating Roberto things had become, odd between them.

Odd was the only word Greg could think of to describe what Jenna's attitude towards him the past few months. Sure some times they still went on break together and to lunch on Fridays, but with Roberto there Greg often felt like a third wheel around them. He looked at the Skittle bowl and noticed that the level of candies in it hadn't changed in weeks. He could hardly remember the last time she helped him pull off a prank against Barb or really done anything to goof off. He yawned and went back to work. He was happy that Jenna was dating and that she had found someone who was good to her, but it was almost like his friend was gone and someone else was their, someone he really didn't know. It hurt a little, like getting your fingers slammed in a car door.

"_Get over it, she hasn't dated anyone in anyone in almost two years. It's new and exciting for her. Be happy for your friend you wanted her date,"_ thought Greg. He heard the door open and someone laughing and than he heard Jenna speaking in Italian. Greg sat up and watched her walk in with Roberto. He walked Jenna over to her desk and Jenna was going still in Italian. He had to smile, she was cute when she was speaking in Italian.

"Arrivederci."

"Arrivederci." Roberto walked away and Jenna was grinning. She turned to her PC and got hit in the head with a Skittle. She turned and saw Greg grinning.

"You forgot to say hello to me."

"Hello." She turned back to her PC to punch in and Greg pegged her with another Skittle.

"Can I help you?" she sounded annoyed and Greg gave her puppy dog eyes.

"I'm bored."

"What do you want me to do?" Greg frowned she was taking on that tone she normally used with Barb and only Barb.

"Will you play the drinking game with me, Barb's been on a roll today and I'm guessing we could get in at least five rounds." Jenna sighed.

"I don't know. I'm really behind and I promised Mitch I would have this done by the end of day," she gestured to a pile of paper on her desk. Greg sighed.

"Please, pretty please I'll leave you alone the rest of the day." Jenna looked defeated.

"If you get me my water, I'll play." Greg damn near bolted to the break room for the water before she changed her mind.

"_What the hell was that about, it was like pulling teeth to get her to play a game that you guys used to play all the time no matter how much work was on the desk. I'm really starting not to like dating Jenna,"_ thought Greg. He headed back to the desk and saw Marv talking to Jenna. Marv was getting married in a few weeks to Laura from HR, thus cracking the mystery of why she came to their side of the room four times a day. Marv came up to Jenna after the beach party and asked to sing at the wedding, Jenna said yes after Marv and Laura both pleaded with her.

"I don' know Marv, I'm starting to have second thoughts about it."

"Please sweetie. It would mean so much to us and you have such a pretty voice."

"I'll try my best if it means so much to you guys." Marv kissed her on the forehead.

"You are a peach." Marv went back to his desk and Greg sat down on Jenna's desk and handed her the water.

"Oh, thank you." She started looking through a file like Greg wasn't their and he felt that 'fingers slamming in the car door' feeling

"So I didn't ask, what are you singing at their wedding?"

"It's for me and them to know and you and everyone else to find out."

"I won't tell a soul."

"Nope." She turned back to the file and Greg was getting ready to head back to his desk out of defeat when Mitch came up to them grinning.

"Good afternoon, Greg, Jen. Greg you're looking very handsome today." Slightly weirder out Greg stepped away from Mitch.

"Um thanks Mitch. I should get back to work." Greg went back to his desk, but he saw Mitch lean down and said in a voice so soft, Greg almost didn't catch it.

"It must be torture for you my dear girl." Mitch walked away and Greg saw that Jenna went slightly pale and look like she wanted to kill Mitch.

"I have to ask Mitch some questions about this file. Marv can you watch my phone?" asked Jenna.

"No problem." Jenna grabbed her file and followed Mitch to his office and shut the door. Greg picked up some his work and headed to the copier near Mitch's office and listened.

"You promised me," he heard Jenna snap at Mitch.

"It's such a waste though, you two are retarded for each other. He just needs a push in your direction."

"No do not push him in my direction. I'm good with the direction we're going. Please Mitch you promised me." She was pleading with Mitch.

"_What the hell did Mitch promise her and what the hell is going on?"_ thought Greg. He heard Mitch sigh.

"Fine you win."

"Good." Greg got busy making copies and Jenna didn't notice he was their. And she didn't touch her water that afternoon either.

On Friday, Mitch came over to Jenna's desk and plopped himself on the desk.

"So what are you doing for lunch?" Jenna looked like a deer in headlights and Greg started to giggle to himself at the look on her face.

"Going to lunch with Roberto," Mitch shook his head.

"No I told him that you were going to lunch with me and that you and I were going to have a one on one chat." Jenna looked like she wanted to crawl under her desk and die.

"Mitch…no." He grinned and whispered something in her ear. He was still grinning and Jenna looked defeated.

"You're buying and I'm going to order a lot."

"Not a problem my dear girl." He walked away grinning like a moron and Jenna looked at her staple like a weapon. Greg had to laugh out loud.

"What's so damn funny?" asked Jenna.

"Are you seeing Mitch too? He seems to have you wrapped around his finger," Jenna groaned and started getting ready to head out.

"It's nothing." She said using that Barb tone again.

"It's something if he has you jumping through hoops like this." She slammed a drawer.

"It's none of your business," she snapped and Greg felt wounded.

"I'm sorry," he muttered to himself as she walked out the door.

_"God she's become a real bitch lately," _thought Greg eating his lunch alone in the break room. _"She wasn't like this until Roberto…yeah this is all his fault Jenna never acted like this until him."_ It started right after the beach party, Jenna started distancing herself from him and now it was like she was building a wall to keep away from him.

_"Roberto didn't strike you has the jealous type, but who knows what happens outside the office. I swear if I find out he's bullying her…_" a host of images that all involved kicking Roberto's ass all the way back to Italy popped into Greg's head and he threw the rest of his lunch out to annoyed to eat it.

Jenna came back around one and looked like she really wanted the ground to swallow her whole and Mitch was grinning like an idiot. She sat down and started to pound her head against the desk.

"You're gonna hurt yourself," said Marv.

"I don't care," she muttered. Marv looked at Greg like Greg should do something, but he was at a total lost. Jenna's phone rang and she answered with her head still on her desk.

"What? What? No I'm not depressed I'm fine. Why did Mitch tell you that? He used the company card, shit Laura had I known that I wouldn't have ordered the desert sampler! No I'm really not depressed, I'm fine." Jenna paused and stood up straight in her chair looking pissed.

"He told you what…that son of…" Jenna swallowed the swear. "I'll be over their in a minute." She hung up the phone and marched over to HR. Greg shared a look with Marv.

"Are you sure woman are worth it? They seem crazy?" asked Greg. Marv laughed.

"They're all crazy, but it's a cute crazy." Twenty minutes later Jenna was following Mitch back to his office, Mitch looked like someone kicked his dog and Jenna looked defeated after some horrible battle. Ten minutes later Jenna was out of Mitch's office and back to her desk. She slumped down in her chair and sighed.

"Hey Greg?" Greg almost jumped; she hadn't started a chat with him in weeks.

"Yeah."

"Umm, can we talk somewhere private during afternoon break? I need to tell you something."

"Stairwell?"

"Stairwell is good," said Jenna and she went back to work . Greg wanted to do a little dance in his chair.

_"She wants to talk to me and not to Roberto…hahahahaha…wait what is your issue? You're her friend and this isn't a contest for her."_

Jenna was sitting in the stairwell between the fourth and fifth floor. No one really took the stairs up here so it was the most private place in the whole building. Greg plopped down next to her and handed her a bag of Skittles and she gave him the smallest smile.

"So spill what's going on?" He opened his Reese cups and waited. She seemed so nervous and he could never remember her being this way around him ever.

"Oh this is so awkward, it's even more awkward than the time my mom tired to tell me about sex," said Jenna.

"Well if that's what we're here to talk about, you're a little late. I got that talk when I was fourteen and the key advice passed on to me by my father was to 'keep it in my pants,'" said Greg.. Jenna looked at him and started laughing uncontrollable.

"That's good advice."

"Seriously Jen, what's up? You've been weird all day."

_"Day…try the last three months have been weird." _ She sighed and looked him in the eyes.

"I got a little tipsy at the beach party and I told Mitch…I told Mitch that I used to have a crush on you." Greg jaw dropped. "Like when you first started here and before things with you and Dana got serious. But, he blew it out of proportion and you know how office gossip is and I was really trying to curtail it and failed and I'm sure soon the whole office will be talking about it and I wanted you to hear it from me before it got out of control. I mean it was over a year ago and I'm dating someone, so I'm over it. And I hope I haven't freaked you out." Jenna downed the Skittles like a shot of tequila and Greg had to laugh.

"That's it."

"That's it." Greg shook his head.

"You just couldn't resist the Sanders' charm is all. No fault of your own." Jenna looked at him.

"You're not cocky at all."

"What can I say, I know I'm hot." Jenna gave him a little shove and Greg had to know something. "So is that why you've been avoiding me and all the fun things we used to do like it's a bomb?"

"What?"

"Look I'm not going to lie, you've been kind of a bitch towards me lately and not fun at all. I was really starting to miss my friend and I just want to know if your bitchyness was a way to curtail Mitch and the gossip." Jenna looked really ashamed and Greg thought she was going to cry. "I'm sorry I said you were a bitch, but.." Jenna hugged him.

"I was a bitch and I'm sorry that I was a bitch towards you. I was really trying to stop the gossip and I got carried away. Can you forgive me?" Greg hugged her back and felt something like butterflies in his stomach.

_"She smells really nice…"_ Greg stepped out the hug and looked at her.

"Considering you were trying so hard to spare me from the gossip rag, I can forgive you. Jenna grinned and Greg couldn't help but feel his mood improve.

"So you wanna add a new rule to the drinking game?" asked Jenna.

"And that would be?"

"Every time Mitch does something annoying you drink a whole glass."

"Deal." They shook on it.

Greg has started to doze off when Sara came a knocking. Greg groaned and saw her peaking in his passenger window and motioning that he should let her in, Greg rolled down the window

"Go away, I just wanna sleep I've been up for over twenty four hours now." He went to roll it back up and Sara put her hand in the window.

"Let me in or get a bat and make you let me in." Greg groaned and opened the door Sara got in and looked at Greg.

"You look like hell," said Sara

"Well I feel like I've been there all week and the week just started." Sara looked at him.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that someone your clearly still in love with wants to throw you out of the room every time they see you?"

"Maybe, I don't know. It's like I see her and everything good that happened between is there and then I open my mouth or she opens hers and everything about our relationship that hurt me comes back, I just don't know," Greg leaned back in his seat and looked at Sara. "That ever happen to you?"

"Yep and it sucks a lot. But, if the good moments outweigh the bad, shouldn't that be what you hold on too, the good moments?" Greg nodded.

"It's just really hard too."

"Well, tell me some of the good moments you had. I mean you can still remember the good ones right?" asked Sara. Greg gave her a small smile.

"I never forgot them." Greg thought for a moment. "There was this time we went out to dinner," Sara got comfortable in the seat.

"I punched out, so start talking."

Writer's notes-The updates may take awhile longer, I have four weeks left of school and while writing this during my math class is much more fun than listening to the Prof drone on about equations I should pay attention and try to graduate college (Go senior year) on top of other papers to write

Oh and Kristy (for those who don't know) she was cough a lady of the night that Nick was seeing in Season 1. She was killed, Nick was blamed, and I can picture the lab rats gossiping about it, because what else do they have to do?

Yeah Jenna was a bitch wasn't she, hopeful though you can understand her decision to act that way.

I may have to change the rating in a few chapters, due to some future steamy moments. So please stick with me, good parts are coming. And yes I do remember that someone was killed, I'm enjoying writing how they got together though. I promise the murder will be resolved.

Love it, hate it, review it please. -


	12. Wedding bell hell

Wedding Bell Hell

Stanford, California- October 1997

"I mean if I had known that it was going to be your last night in America I would have planned a party or something. I mean we can leave the wedding after I sing and do anything you want," said Jenna. Roberto was sitting on her desk and they were talking about the Roberto leaving the country after Marv and Laura's wedding. He shook his head.

"I want to see if American weddings are anything like the movies."

"They're not."

"You're a kill joy you know that." Jenna glared.

"Greg, Roberto called me a kill joy."

"Roberto, don't call Jen a kill joy," said Greg from his desk.

"How about we all go out has a group after the wedding. Me, you, Greg and Dana," suggest Roberto. Greg shrugged.

"Dana's not coming with me to the wedding; she's going with her sister to L.A. this weekend."

"Well we can still go out?" asked Jenna.

"I'll feel like a third wheel, besides it's the man's last night in America, shouldn't you two be doing couple like things?" asked Greg. Jenna threw a paper ball at him.

"We'll do whatever Roberto wants to do. So what do you want to do?"

"I wanna go to the wedding and stay till the bride and groom kick us out." Jenna let her head hit the desk.

"Fine…siete facili a prego." Roberto kissed the top of her head.

"Grazie inamorato." Roberto walked back to his desk and Jenna started working again.

"What were you two going on about?" asked Greg.

"I told him he was easy to please and he told me thank you sweetheart. I could teach you Italian and then we can speak in it all day and annoy Barb."

"It sound complicated. I'll stick with the French, Norwegian and random Spanish I pick up."

"You speak Norwegian?"

"My Papa and Nana Olaf speak Norwegian when the mood takes them and they taught me."

"Sure you don't wanna learn Italian, chicks dig it." Greg shook his head no, Jenna smirked "Don't know what you're missing." Greg just grinned at her and returned her paper ball with a paper clip that hit Jenna in the arm.

"I was going to ask you for a super huge favor, but I don't think I can trust you, due to your disrespect of the office supplies," said Jenna.

"Depending on what the favor is you might fine I'm very trustworthy."

"My mom wants a video of me singing at the ceremony and the reception, but Roberto is technology handicapped and I was wondering if you could video tape it for me?"

"Sure, I'll even use the brand new camera I got as an early Christmas present." Jenna smiled.

"You're the best." She turned back to her PC and Greg sat there a few moments looking at her than he realized he was staring at her and got back to work.

Saturday morning Greg walked into the church holding his camera and trying to find a seat. He spotted Roberto and made his way over the pew.

"Oh thank god, I didn't bring my camera and I was worried that Jenna wouldn't get the video she wanted for her mother."

"Where is the little starlet anyway?" Roberto pointed to the stage.

"Right their next to the lady with the violin." Greg turned and his jaw almost dropped. For the most part, Jenna dressed real professional for work. Dress pants, maybe a skirt and a nice shirt was her attire and she normally either wore her hair straight down or in a ponytail. To see her in a formal dress was a kick in the head. It was a light blue silk dress that came to about her knees and was spaghetti strapped, but she was wearing a light blue shawl over it, however it did nothing to hide her figure which looked incredible in that dress. She had pulled her hair back in a bun with a few strands around her neck and she was wearing a pearl choker. Greg had to blink to make sure that it was Jenna he was really seeing.

"_Holy shit, your best friend is a closet hottie_._"_

"I know the feeling is mutual," said Roberto noticing Greg's face.

"Sorry." Greg started fumbling with the camera to cover the fact that was drooling over his best friend while her boyfriend was sitting next to him. Greg got the camera ready in time for the wedding march. Laura looked like she was glowing and if her father hadn't been making her walk in step, Greg had a feeling she would have ran down the aisle to meet Marv. Marv looked nervous, but happy and his eyes were only for Laura. Laura got the end of the aisle and kissed Marv.

"Normally I give the okay for that, but…" said the preacher shook his head to the laughter of the crowd. Laura and Marv both blushed and took their places and the crowd quieted. The preacher gave his blessings and Marv and Laura exchanged vows and rings and their second not approved kiss to the cheers of the crowd.

"I think we're holding the couple up, so here to sing the couple's wedding song Jenna Bianchi." The preacher stepped aside and Jenna took his place and Greg made sure the camera was on. The violin started and Jenna started to sing.

_At last _

_My love has come along_

_My lonely days are over_

_And life is like a song_

_Ohh yeah yeah_

_At last_

_The skies above are blue_

_My heart was wrapped up in clover_

_The night I looked at you_

_I found a dream, that I could speak to_

_A dream that I can call my own_

_I found a dream to press my cheek to_

_A thrill that I have never known_

_Ohh yeah yeah?_

_You smiled, you smiled_

_Oh and then the spell was cast_

_And here we are in heaven_

_for you are mine..._

_At Last._

The violin ended and Jenna stepped down to the cheering of the church. The preacher stepped back up.

"By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you man and wife…you may…carry on," said the preacher to the still kissing Marv and Laura. Jenna got off the stage as soon as the wedding party moved out the way and walked over to Greg and Roberto.

_"She's you friend, remember that…your very hot friend and despite being around her for almost two years it never clicked how hot she was."_ Jenna gave Roberto a hug and a kiss on the check and looked at Greg.

"Sanders, could you please put your eyes back in your head, it's me," said Jenna.

"It's just a very nice dress," said Greg, Jenna patted his head.

"Such a bad lair," she turned and took Roberto's hand walked out the church with Roberto's other hand on her lower back.

_"Lucky bastard,"_ thought Greg.

"You really should eat something, you didn't eat breakfast," said Roberto at the table. Jenna rolled her eyes and pushed her dinner plate away.

"I still have one more song for them and if I eat I'm going to throw up and they'll tell their children horror stories about the vomiting wedding singer." Greg snickered.

"You can sing in the office, while on hold with customers, but you're nervous about singing in front of people, some of whom you'll never see again," said Greg.

"That's different, I don't care what you think of me and I started doing that to annoy Barb and it's worked so far. But, I mean this day is special for them and it's something they'll tell people about forever and I don't want to be the person who ruins it. I'll leave that the groomsmen and whatever toast they deal out. Or whatever drunk uncle makes a pass at the bridesmaid," Jenna took a sip of her water and handed her dinner to a passing waiter. Roberto shook his head and looked at Greg

"I should have let you argue with her, she's more likely to listen to you than me." She gave Roberto a look.

"Non allineare, ascolto voi." Roberto shook his head.

"Nessun lo ha sempre il vostri orecchio e volontà."

"Seriously, you two it's unfair to be sitting here with no clue about what you're babbling about. I mean really, I should start talking in French to someone just to throw you two off." Jenna smirked.

"Ce qui comme ceci... sucez sur celle les ponceuses." Greg's jaw dropped.

"No way."

"Four languages, French being the last of them. I know enough to at least understand when I'm being insulted in it." She stuck her tongue out and Greg had to laugh.

"So I should just speak Norwegian than."

"And carry on conversations with yourself. When you start answering yourself I'll know you've finally lost your mind and you'll have to be committed to a loony bin. And I won't be far behind you, because Barb will drive me crazy."

"Maybe we could be locked in the same rubber room." Jenna raised her glass.

"Here's hoping." He toasted her and he thought she was blushing slightly.

"Jenna, I think Marv and Laura are looking for you," said Roberto. Greg noticed she turned really red and she headed to Marv and Laura.

_"I forgot he was here and from the look on Jenna's face she almost forgot too." _ Greg looked at Roberto and he was waiting for him to say something about the fact that not only had he been drooling all over his girlfriend, but he was flirting with her.

_"Wait, I wasn't flirting, Jenna and I always joke like that and have been since day one. And I mean damn, you have to be blind or gay to not notice how cute she is. I dare him to say something."_ But nothing was said and Roberto turned his seat to face the dance floor. Marv and Laura took the center of the floor and Jenna was off to the side. Greg had to move his chair in order to get her in the camera. Marv and Laura started to swing dance and Jenna started singing.

_There's a few things I haven't told you  
And before you hear them from someone else  
To clear up misconceptions  
I'd rather tell you myself  
There was a time_

I rode a roller coaster  
From Coney Island to Key West  
I held on with one finger  
So the other ten could rest  
It may be hard to believe  
Hard to comprehend  
But baby, you didn't know me when

I played third chair trombone  
In an out-of-work polka band  
We looked for gigs on ships  
In countries that had no land  
It may be hard to believe  
We hit the top ten  
But baby, you didn't know me when

If you want a resume I'll put it in writing  
It's only good for a day and the contents are frightening

I gave long-winded speeches  
I was a head-of-state  
I wrote an endless novel  
Called See Jane Love And Hate  
It may be hard to believe  
I'm reticent  
But baby, you didn't know me when

Jenna took her final bow for the night and the crowd was cheering Marv and Laura. Couples started heading to the open dance floor and shaking it to _California Love_ by 2Pac and Dr. Dre. Jenna walked up to Roberto and pulled him on to the dance floor and they started dancing. Poor Roberto looked out of place on the dance floor, but Jenna soon got him into the swing of it. Greg turned off the camera and watched the couples dance for awhile. Mitch plopped himself in the empty seats left behind by Jenna and Roberto.

"Good day, huh?" asked Mitch sipping a drink.

"Yeah. Marv and Laura look really cute together." Greg spotted them on the dance floor, the song had changed to a slow number and they were dancing check to check. Jenna was next to them and was smiling at Roberto and talking very fast from the look on her face.

"Yep, Jenna looks really nice doesn't she?" Greg hadn't really talked to Mitch since Jenna had explained her former crush on him and Greg had been trying to avoid any awkwardness between them. Roberto pulled Jenna a little closer to him and she put her head on his chest.

"God I'm surprised to see her out there with him, she was so hung up on you." Greg knew where this was going and decided to nip it in the bud.

"Yeah, but it was a long time ago and we're cool." Mitch looked at him.

"It wasn't that long ago, it was at the beach party." Greg thought his brain had frozen and he could have sworn he heard Mitch wrong, he recalled Jenna's talk with him in the stairwell.

""_I got a little tipsy at the beach party and I told Mitch…I told Mitch that I used to have a crush on you. Like when you first started here and before things with you and Dana got serious" _The key word in her speech was used to, 'I used to have a crush on you'. Maybe he just misunderstood Mitch.

"Jenna _told you_ about her crush on me on me at the beach party."

"No she _had_ a crush on you at the beach party," Mitch corrected him. Greg blinked and he felt like the world had shifted and Mitch realized what he had done.

"Look forget I said anything, she's with someone, and you're with someone. You guys are good friends and you always will be friends." Mary sat down.

"What's going on?" she asked. Leo turned his chair around

"Mitch told him about the worst kept secret in the office."

"Ah Jenna's crush on cutie pie here." Greg blinked and his jaw dropped

"_Did everyone know about this but me?"_

"Jenna's my friend, my best friend. That's it."

"And that's why you two are always flirting and exchanging stares at each other when you think no one is looking?" asked Mary. Greg felt his face go red, he looked at Mitch.

"She told me she used to have a crush and I believe her. You can all think what you want, I don't care." He got up and went to the bathroom to cool off.

"_She had or she used to have is a big difference in wording there. Jenna wouldn't lie to me, but why would Mitch rattle my cage like that. Hell, maybe Barb is finally playing a prank on me and Jenna for a change." _He headed back to the table and slow music was still going and Roberto and Jenna were still dancing, he couldn't see Jenna's face, but he knew she was happy from the way Roberto was smiling at her. Roberto looked up and caught Greg looking at them. Greg quickly looked away and headed to the bar.

"_That guy is going to kick my ass if I don't watch out."_

"He was looking at you again," said Roberto quietly in Italian. Jenna shook her head.

"It's nothing," she answered back in the same language. Roberto looked sad, but understanding.

"I think he finally saw you for more than a friend, isn't that what you wanted? I know you care about me Jenna, but it's not the same way you care about him and it's not fair to anyone here. You're a wonderful person and I hope you know what you're doing."

"I don't know what's wrong with me. You're the kind of guy most girls would kill for and we're breaking up, I'm sure the office ladies will beat me up in the parking lot for keeping you away from them." Jenna looked at him. "You're going to leave now aren't you? I'm sorry I ruined your last night here."

"No you didn't. I've had a great time with you and thank you for showing me an American wedding." Jenna shook her head.

"Such a dork." They walked off the dance floor, got their stuff from the table and went out to the parking lot.

Greg came back to the table and noticed Jenna's and Roberto's stuff was gone. At first he thought someone had run off it, lots of people and no one paying attention made it an easy target, but his camera was still their. Than he looked to the dance floor and saw Jenna and Roberto gone.

_"They probably went somewhere for a more private good bye." _He couldn't stand being here another minute knowing that his friendship with Jenna was being documented by people who didn't know them at all. He got his camera and headed outside to his car. He noticed Jenna and Roberto talking in the middle of the lot.

"Grazie per tutto. Li mancherò," said Jenna.

"Li mancherò anche, ma dovete andare. Più lungo li guardo il più che desidero per gridare." She nodded and Roberto got in his car, Jenna stepped away and watched him drive off. She pulled her wrap around her trying to keep the chill away. She turned to walk back inside and spotted him standing their.

"Hey,' she called out and walked over to him. Greg fought the urge to run.

_"She had or she has…"_

"Hey, where is your boyfriend going?"

"To the airport, than he's getting on a plane and after flying for many hours he'll be home." Greg was confused.

"Well shouldn't you be going with him? For one last big send off," Jenna sighed.

"We agreed it was easier this way." Pieces fell into Greg head.

"You guys broke up didn't you?" _"She had or she has?"_

"It's more of a parting of way. Breaking up sounds harsh and it's not like we hate each other or anything, we just realized that this was not a long term thing." Greg nodded and Jenna let out a little shiver and pulled her wrap a little tighter. Greg mentally kicked himself and took off his jacket.

"Here."

"Than you'll be cold."

"I'm wearing more than you are." He draped over her shoulders and he felt a spark when he touched her.

_"God you're being a moron, just ask her. It's simple she had or has a crush on you?"_

"Hey can I ask you something?"

"You just did." They laughed and they turned to look at each other and it dawned on both them that they had never really been alone like this. No one watching, no one talking, no boyfriends or girlfriends, just them. Greg found himself at a lost for words.

_"Why are you going to ask? She's your friend, whose word is better? Hers or there's?" _

"I just wanted you to know that I got both times that you sung. Your mom won't kill you now."

"Thanks." Jenna's stomach started to growl and Greg had to laugh. "I'm starving and Laura gave me fifty. So I'm going to treat you for a change, sound good?"

"Sounds great." They headed for his car and he opened the door for her.

"Such a sweetie." He shut it behind her and went to his side of the car and found his door unlocked and opened. Jenna shrugged. "I was told a girl who didn't return the door opening favor was a bitch and should be thrown out on the spot. And I either get a ride home with you or Mitch. And you're not drunk, so." Greg got in the car and they drove off.

"Got any tunes?" asked Jenna. Greg handed her a cd case and she started flipping though it. "What's with all the pissy white kid in the suburbs music, Sanders?"

"Maybe I was a pissy white kid the suburbs." She laughed and finally settled on some Billy Idol. White Wedding soon filled the car, Jenna turned it up and began to sing off key and has loud as she could. Greg soon joined her and both were screaming at the top of their lungs and getting stares from people passing by. They pulled into a local IHOP laughing so hard their sides hurt and Greg was tearing up.

"You are a horrible influence on me," said Greg.

"I don't hear you complaining." Jenna skipped across the parking lot and into the IHOP. He followed her to a booth and were handed menus.

"So what's good here?" asked Jenna.

"You've never been to IHOP?" Greg asked shocked.

"I'm sorry I've never eaten pancakes at ten o'clock at night before."

"God, you've lived in California for almost two years and didn't see the ocean till four months ago and you've never ever eaten at IHOP. Why are we friends?"

"Because I make your life interesting and save you from boredom on a daily basis."

"Alright you have me their. Get the crepes with the cream cheese those are really good."

"They're called blintzes."

"What ever." They ordered and a silence fell between them that wasn't oppressive or awkward, it was nice, Greg always felt the need to keep talking when around Dana or she was always keeping up the talk. It was never a peaceful silence between them, unless they were sleeping. The waitress brought their food, Jenna ordered hers with blueberries and Greg was digging into a mess of strawberries.

"It's so damn good." She muttered with her mouth full.

"Didn't your mother teach you table manners? Like not talking with you mouth full." She looked at him.

"I don't think the guy who has whipped cream and strawberry on his chin should tell me about table manners." She pulled out a mini mirror and showed him. "Do you want me to wipe it off for you too?" Greg wiped it off himself and Jenna sighed.

"Sue me, I'm messy," said Greg.

"You're like a five year old sometimes."

"Good at least I still have a youthful spirit."

"Call it what you want, you're a giant child." The finished up their blintzes, paid and headed out. Jenna turned it to a rock station and they listened, occasionally bursting into song. They turned it down when they got to Jenna's apartment.

"Thanks for the ride," she told him.

"Thank you for the second breakfast." Jenna turned to get out of the car when a Pearl Jam song came on.

"Oh I love this song." She turned it up a little. She closed her eyes and start to bob her head to the beat and hum. Greg shook his head and started to hum with her.

_I seem to recognize your face  
haunting, familiar, yet I can't seem to place it  
cannot find the candle of thought to light your name  
lifetimes are catching up with me  
all these changes taking place, I wish I'd seen the place  
but no one's ever taken me  
_

_hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away...  
_

_I swear I recognize your breath  
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising  
me, you wouldn't recall, for I'm not my former  
it's hard when, you're stuck upon the shelf  
I changed by not changing at all, small town predicts my fate  
perhaps that's what no one wants to see  
_

_I just want to scream...hello...  
my god its been so long, never dreamed you'd return  
but now here you are, and here I am  
hearts and thoughts they fade...away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade...away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade..._

The song ended and Greg almost wished it hadn't. She looked really beautiful in that moment and he found himself going back to the question he had been asking himself earlier.

_"She has or she had." _

"Sorry I really like that song. Here's your jacket," she took it off and handed it to him. There hands brushed and he felt that spark again.

_"When was the last time you felt a spark for Dana?"_ asked some little voice in the back of his mind. Before he could say anything Jenna had opened the car door.

"Night Greg."

"Night." He watched her walk up the stairs and into her building and that same voice in the back of his mind came back.

_"You know about her, her feelings. Does she know about your? Do you even know your feelings?" _ Greg put in some of his pissy white boy music and drove home.

"She called you a giant child? Wow, she hit the nail on head didn't she?" asked Sara. Greg smiled.

"She could always do that, you know. Just make me feel like I was the only one in the room or laugh till I cried. It's been a long time since I've done that or felt that." Sara patted his head.

"I bet you made her feel the same way, maybe that's why she wants you gone. Maybe the memories hurt her too."

"Can I ask you something and you'll be honest?"

"As honest as I can be."

"When did you and Grissom…you know…" Sara stopped him.

"It's private, like your relationship with Jenna. I promise to not tell anyone what you told me. Go home, get some sleep. Catherine probably sent Nick home too; you guys need a break from each other and a nap."

"Thanks for listening." Sara got out of the car.

"Anytime." She shut the door and headed back to the lab. Greg started the car and headed home. He realized that his feelings were Sara were friendship only, they flirted, and they shared things. But that feeling of being the only one in a crowded room, Jenna had been the first and the last person to cause that for him. He flipped on the radio and messed with the stations and found one that almost made his heart stop.

_Finally I figured out  
But it took a long, long time  
But now there's a turnabout  
Maybe 'cause I'm trying_

_There's been times, I'm so confused  
All my roads, They lead to you  
I just can't turn and walk away_

They had been dancing to this song at an office Christmas party, right before everything they felt for each other had changed. He knew how he felt when it happened, but he had lied to her and she had lied to him.

_"Maybe if we hadn't have lied to each other than, we wouldn't be in this mess now,"_ thought Greg.

Writer's note- I couldn't sleep last night so I got up and finished up another chapter.

What was said- _When Jenna and Roberto were at the table_. Jenna told Roberto he was a liar and that she did listen to him. He told her that Greg had her ear and that he always would. _When they were out in the parking lot_- Jenna told him that she would miss him and thanked him for everything. Roberto told her that he would miss her too, but asked if she could leave, the longer he looked at her the more he wanted to cry.

_What Jenna told Greg at the table in French_- What like this...suck on that Sanders. God I love foreign languages they add flavor.

The great thing about writing this is going back to the 90's and looking into my music collection. The wedding songs were: At Last: By Etta James and You Didn't Know Me When: By Harry Connick Jr. The car song was Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town. The last song that Greg heard was All for You: By Sister Hazel.

Love it, hate it, review it please.


	13. A blue Christmas

A Blue Christmas

December 1997

Stanford-California

"If I hear the little drummer boy one more time, I may blow my brains out," said Greg.

"I'll do you if you do me," said Jenna.

"Tempting, it's a very tempting offer."

"It could be your Christmas present," said Jenna. She and Greg had been placed on Christmas tree decorating duty and were finishing up the last tree in the break room. The tree was taller than both of them and Jenna was standing on a stool hanging a bulb.

"I've never seen Barb slightly happy before and it's starting to freak me out," said Greg.

"She's still annoying; I think she gave us tree duty because she knew I was going to wear heels and nice clothes." Jenna had to take her shoes off and was standing on her tip toes in stockings. Greg had to admit that Jenna looked cute today…well she looked cute everyday, today she was wearing a knee length black skirt and a light purple button up dress shirt. She has curled her hair and it fell to about her shoulders and Greg kept noticing how her shirt would go up a little when she was reaching for something. He kept mentally smacking himself when he would look at the hint of bare skin, like he was doing now.

"I like tree duty," he told her.

"I like trees too, but this is over the top. This is the third tree Greg! Barb was thinking about getting two more. This is insane for an office party. My mom doesn't even go over the top like this for her people." Greg handed her some tinsel and mentally smacked himself again for staring at Jenna.

"So you're heading back to Vegas after the party?"

"Yep, my brother is flying in from Chicago and he's bringing his girlfriend with him, so I'm going to assume she a serious deal if he's bringing her home to our Italian-Mexican-Irish mother." Greg laughed.

"She sounds scary when you talk about her. You know that right."

"She too overprotective, I'm twenty two and my brother is almost twenty eight. We had to break out of our apron strings."

"Maybe our moms should get together, swap notes about how to drive their children crazy."

"You're your mom's only baby though, I can understand her wanting to keep the strings tied. Frankie and I are horrible children, you think she be hacking at those strings with a butcher knife." Greg held the ladder for her and she stepped down and put her shoes back on.

"I have trouble picturing you has a horrible child."

"I wasn't a bad kid. But when we worked together in the bakery we butted heads about things. I like try new things and experimenting with cakes and she's old school baking."

"Old school?" asked Greg.

"Yeah, no room for change at all, cakes come in four shapes with two types of frosting and this many flavors. She got really pissed when I tried to make a coffee cake with coffee. We love each other has mother and daughter, but working with her is a whole new ball game."

"So how did the coffee flavored coffee cake turn out?" asked Greg.

"Needed a bit more sugar…is that the last tree, I'm tried of taking my shoes off. But at least it gets us off of office duty."

"So what did you get me for Christmas?"

"Not telling, it's a secret." Greg frowned.

"You're a tease and a mean tease at that," Jenna smiled and patted Greg on the check.

"I try." She got up and went to find Barb to get her approval on the tree. Greg sat their and was trying to understand why a simple check pat would cause the butterflies he was feeling right now.

_"Damn Mitch and his big mouth. Jenna's my friend and anything romantic between us would be down right weird. We would be those people who couldn't go back to being friends afterward and I like having Jenna has a friend more than anything."_ Barb stomped in and eyed the tree.

"It's passable. Jenna I'm moving you to food duty downstairs. Greg you can go back to work," Barb stomped out and Jenna made strangling motions.

"My gift to Barb is two weeks with no pranks but she's making it so damn hard." Jenna walked out and Greg shook his head and went back to his desk.

Around four, Greg called Dana to find out what time she was coming to the party.

"It's a lame office party Greg. Do I have to come?" whined Dana.

"I'm going to your Christmas party at work, why can't you come to mine?" snapped Greg. She was really starting to piss him off. He told her about this party almost two weeks ago and now she was being a real bitch with him about going.

"Fine I'll be their around nine." She hung up the phone and Greg slammed his end down. He was have tempted to call her back and tell her not to come.

_"I mean really, I go to all the stuff she wants to do and I put up with her annoying co-workers at their holiday parties why the hell can't I get the same in return?"_ Greg was typing away when he felt a hand touch his shoulder and he felt his bad mood dissolve. He whirled around and saw Jenna grinning at him.

"It's past five are you ready for some Christmas cheer?" she asked. Greg took her hand.

"Sure." They linked arms and headed downstairs.

Leo and Mary were dancing while the rest of the office cheered them on. Jenna was slightly weirder out by the cute accountant and the Office granny dirty dancing to Baby Got Back. Jenna had a feeling that this would be the last time an open bar would be allowed in the office. She found a table and was sipping some coffee and eating some cheese cake. Greg plopped down next her, grinning and laughing. He was waving a camera and pointing to the dance floor.

"These pictures should be sent to HR. I'm sure we'll have a new sexual harassment policy in the works in time for the new year," said Greg.

"Those pictures should never see the light of day. I should burn that film," said Jenna trying to take the camera out of his hands.

"Oh come on Jen," Greg flung an arm around Jenna and snapped the camera in both their faces.

"Thanks, now I can't see the horrible dancing in front of me."

"But they're so cute together." Jenna made a face.

"And you dancing like that with Barb would look hot."

"Oh that was below the belt."

"You brought it on yourself," said Jenna with a shrug. Baby Got Back came to an end and was replaced with Sister Hazel. Jenna closed her eyes and started bobbing her head to the beat. Greg smiled recalling how she did that after the wedding in his car.

"Do you like this song?" Greg asked.

"It's a cool song."

"Do you want to dance?" he asked. Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"Can you dance?" she asked. Greg pretended to be wounded.

"I have some moves."

"You step on my feet and you're going to buy me dinner,"

"Deal," Greg stood up and took Jenna's hand and lead her out to the dance floor. She put one hand on his shoulder and he took her other hand. He placed his other hand on her side and started to lead.

_It's hard to say what it is I see in you  
Wonder if I'll always be with you  
But words can't say, And I can't do  
Enough to prove,  
It's all for you_

I thought I'd seen it all  
'Cause it's been a long, long time  
But then we'll trip and fall  
Wondering if I'm blind

The butterflies started up in his stomach, he hadn't been this physical close to her since that day at the beach, but that was different. He was just goofing off with her like he would with anyone else and he wasn't noticing the little things about her, like how pretty her eyes were.

_"She's your friend…your best friend,"_ thought Greg.

"Jenna, Greg," hissed Barb. Jenna broke away and Greg wanted to murder Barb.

"What, we're not dirty dancing like the accountants," hissed Jenna.

"The lights on the tree down here have burnt out. Go upstairs and get another strand."

"You're kidding!" snapped Greg. Barb pointed to the door.

"Lights…now!" Jenna marched off the dance floor and Greg had to run to catch her.

"So many new pranks for the new year," said Jenna heading up the office.

"Hand me that stool," said Jenna, she had found a spare strand of lights on a shelf in the supply room upstairs. Greg set the old stool up and Jenna climbed up.

"Remind me to kill Barb as a Christmas present for you," said Greg.

"She's not worth that much. Got it." Jenna stood up on her tip toes and grabbed the lights. She went to step down and one of the legs on the stool snapped. Jenna dropped the box and started to fall.

"Shit," cried Jenna. Greg caught her and both of them feel backwards and Greg hit the cement floor with Jenna on top of him.

_"Fuck that hurt,"_ thought Greg with his eyes close and his head pounding.

"You alright?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah I'm fine," muttered Greg. He opened his eyes and it dawned on him how they fell and everything that could happen between them with little to no effort.

_Move._

He couldn't do it though; it was like gravity was against him. He felt bare skin under his hands, her shirt had risen up when he caught her and his hands were resting on her sides.

_Move_

Her hands had come to rest near his waist and he felt the pressure of her pushing down on him. She felt so light on top of him, she fit him perfectly, her curves meshed with him and he was enjoying the feel of those curves in his hands.

_Move!_

Her face was an inch away from his, when he exhaled, she inhaled and visa versa. He was getting lost in her eyes, a deep sea of green. Her hair was brushing against his checks, it was soft and he could smell pine from the Christmas trees they had been working with and something sweet.

_Move…_

His heart was pounding in his chest and it made his ears ring. He could feel her heart hammering away in her chest. How long had they been like this? Seconds, minutes, lifetimes…he felt all control of himself slip away.

_It won't be the same between you two anymore if you…she won't be your friend do you want to lose that? _Everything his brain was telling him made sense, but his body wanted…needed to know. His hands started to shake from nerves and the internal conflict he was feeling.

"Jenna," he muttered trying to find words, sound, anything to speak to her. His shaking hands moved further up her shirt, enjoying the feel of the soft skin. Their eyes locked and Greg knew he looked like a deer in headlights. She blinked and he felt her start to shake. She blinked again and tears filled her eyes, she closed them and shook her head. Without a word she pushed away from him quickly.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," she said. She grabbed the lights and ran out of the room. Greg laid there; time started to move again, he took deep breaths and tried to regain some control of himself. He laid there feeling numb and angry with himself.

_We told you! She's your friend and you were going to have her here on the floor of a storage room, what the hell is wrong with you?_

"_Damn Barb and her freaking lights,"_ thought Jenna when she fell. Greg being the gentleman, tried to break her fall, now they were both on the floor.

"You alright?" His eyes were closed and Jenna was worried about how hard he hit his head.

"Yeah I'm fine." He opened his eyes and Jenna saw him with a look she never thought she would be getting from him.

_Don't Move!_

She felt his hands pressed into her sides, they had held hands more than once, but having them on her like this, they were much different somehow. If made her feel warm to have his hands on her.

_Don't move._

Their faces were an inch apart and she was getting lost in his sweet brown eyes. She could hardly breath because she felt like she was going to drown in his eyes. She was so close she could kiss him if she could find the thought to lower her face another half inch.

_I can't move…I don't want to move. _

Her hands were near his waist and she didn't even realized that she was pressing down on him. She had wanted to touch him since that day on the beach and know what he felt like…well she was getting what she wanted and he felt great, she wanted to put her hands all over him, but her body wasn't obeying.

_Don't move, just stay here_

She felt Greg shake to shake, but she also felt him getting aroused under her and she knew not to move.

"Jenna." His voice was shaking and sounded far away. She felt him move his shaking hands upwards. She looked into his eyes again and saw hints of fear. She wanted to die right than.

_No this isn't right! He doesn't want this…he doesn't want us if he did he wouldn't look so damn terrify. This is hurting him, why are you hurting him? _Jenna was screaming at herself on the inside. She blinked trying to clear her head, but it hurt so much to have him right here and knowing that it would be so simple to kiss him, tell him everything.

_"I love you, I loved you pretty much since you walked into this private circle of hell and I hate seeing you with that bitch who doesn't know you at all and I hate knowing that right now you don't feel the same way I feel about you."_ She was so upset with that knowledge she started to shake. She blinked again and saw that the fear in his eyes had gotten worse she wanted to cry.

_I would never hurt you, God Greg you have no idea what you really mean to me._ Tears filled her eyes and she had to close her eyes just so she didn't have to look at him anymore.

_Walk away now Jenna…keep what little piece of yourself he doesn't have yet, you deserve that much. Walk away before it's too late._ Jenna nodded agreeing with herself, he had taken almost everything from her and without a thought she had let him have it, her heart, her soul, the least he could do is leave her with her body. She pushed away from him and felt the cold that came with it, she wanted to go back to Vegas, and it was warm and some couple hundred miles between her, this room and him.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," she told him. She picked up the lights that had cause this mess and ran out the room and headed for the stairwell. The door slammed shut behind her and she fell to the steps and tried to regain some control of her self. Greg hadn't come after her yet, simply confirming to Jenna that he didn't want her and that friendship was all that would ever happen between them.

_Hell friends, I'll be lucky if he even speak after that, friends don't come close to having sex with other friends on a storage room floor._ She headed into a bathroom before heading back to the party. Her eyes were puffy; she could lie about that though, pass it off as dust from the storage room. She couldn't lie to herself though about how hurt she was on the inside and the knowledge that she was not what he wanted. She dried her eyes and went back to the party, bracing herself for Barb yelling about the lights.

Greg stayed on the floor of the storage room for a couple more minutes, giving Jenna time away from him.

_Hell I'll be lucky if she evens wants me in the same room after what just happened. I'll be really lucky if she doesn't go straight to Dana and…oh shit Dana._ Greg looked at his watch and saw that it was almost nine o'clock. He got off the floor and ran to the bathroom to sweep dust off him and make sure he didn't look like someone who came close to a sexual encounter with his best friend. Greg made a mad dash down the stairs and back to the party. It had picked up quite a bit since he and Jenna had left. Barb was even dancing and Greg had a feeling the accountants and Mitch who were laughing in a corner had something to do with it. Greg looked around and saw Dana standing next to a Christmas tree and chatting with Jenna who was putting the lights on tree. Greg suddenly felt like he was having that dream where he had walked in to Chemistry class naked. He approached slowly and waited to get beaten down by his girlfriend and his friend.

"Hey you made it," said Dana holding a glass of wine from the open bar and she gave Greg a hug. Jenna looked away and kept hanging the lights. "Do you feel any better? Jenna said that you got a little sick from some shrimp," said Dana. He felt a huge sense of relief; Jenna had covered for him and why not cover for him unless she was still his friend. Jenna finished the lights and looked to see Barb and Leo dancing now.

"Well Barb is drunk and dancing, I think that's my cue to get my bags from upstairs, call the cab and head out," said Jenna.

"Are you sure?" asked Dana. Jenna nodded.

"Yeah the dancing of Barb means it really time to go."

"I'll walk you out," said Greg. Jenna's eyes flashed fear and Greg felt like an ass.

"No…I mean it's cool I'll be fine."

_"You need to fix this and fix it now before it's too late_,_"_ thought Greg.

"I left your Christmas gift upstairs, I should give it to you before you leave," he lied. Jenna looked like a trapped rat.

"Sure."

"See you in a few minutes." Dana nodded and went to find a table. When she was out of earshot Greg turned to Jenna who looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

"Can we talk…please," pleaded Greg. Jenna nodded and they headed back upstairs. The silence between them was painful, Greg couldn't stand how much it hurt and he stopped her in the stairwell. She wouldn't look at him and he worried that this would be the end of their friendship and it was all because he couldn't control himself and he let the gossip of others get a hold of him.

"About what happened, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I shouldn't have had my hands on you like that. It wasn't right. And well, about me and…the... you know, it just happened. I mean…I not going to lie to you, you're very attractive and well it just has a mind of its own and…" he realized he was making excuses and she really wasn't buying it.

"So you're saying it's my fault," she shook her head and started walking away. Greg's mind was screaming at him.

_"We told you! We told you! Now look what you've done, she going to leave and when she comes back she won't be our friend, we're going to lose the one person who really understands us. All because you were thinking about her with your dick," _But that quite voice he had been trying to block out since Marv and Laura's wedding was their.

_"It felt good didn't it though?_ _She felt perfect in your hands and you wanted her. You wanted every inch of her, does that sound like the way a friend thinks of a friend?"_

_"We like her, we like her a lot, but not like that,"_ said his mind. That quite voice started to laugh.

_"Stop trying to fool yourself…you want her don't you? That's why you stare when she isn't looking. That's why you didn't move when she fell on you. That's why you were going to press onward with her in storage room, you want her so bad you can taste it can't you? I bet she's sweet, she felt sweet didn't she?"_ asked that evil little voice. Greg had to sit down; he hurt from the conflict in his own head.

_"Jenna doesn't feel that way though. If she wanted us too, she would have stayed. She was right, she used to have a crush on us, but it's too late now. We're with Dana and Jenna is our friend. Now go make this right with her before she walks away anymore." _ Greg got up and went into the office and found Jenna sitting on her desk, finishing up with her call for a cab. She looked up and saw him standing their and wanted to run. Greg walked up to her and looked her in eyes.

"Jen, you're my friend, my best friend and I don't wanna do anything that would ruin what we have and if I did anything, ANYTHING, to hurt you or upset you in anyway I'm sorry. I'll even let you beat the shit out of me if that's what it takes to make what happened right." She blinked and Greg got what he wanted, that smile.

"No you didn't hurt me or upset me, it was just unexpected coming from you."

"_Oh but does hurt, doesn't it Jenna. It hurt to have him so near, yet be so far away," _muttered her bad angel. Jenna felt her good angel nudge her.

"_This is the road as I see it. It's his friend or nothing at all. It hurts us either way, but which one hurts less?" _ Jenna sighed and looked at Greg.

"You're my friend too and believe me if you weren't here I would have blown my brains out ages ago. I blame the chair; I really should go downstairs and lodge a complaint with Laura." Greg laughed.

"I blame Barb and her OCD with party planning." Jenna grinned and reached into her bag and pulled out a cd case and a gift bag.

"I was going to leave those for you, but since you're here." Greg was shocked.

"You didn't have too. I kind of fibbed about getting you a gift, I just wanted to talk to you in private," Jenna shrugged.

"Well I did, so you either take it or I give it to Mitch." Greg opened the cd case and found out it was a mix cd, a label on the side listed some of his favorite bands: Manson, Garbage, and the Smashing Pumpkins. He smiled and sat the cd down and opened the gift bag and his jaw dropped, it was a five pound bag of Blue Hawaiian.

"Jen!"

"Relax, I ordered it through my mom's bakery and got a discount. Figured you could use the tunes and the coffee for your last term at Stanford."

"I feel really bad that I didn't know what to get you."

"You can get me something when I get back. My cab should be here by now." Jenna picked up one of her bags and Greg grabbed a suitcase and they went outside. The cab was waiting and Greg helped Jenna put her stuff in the trunk.

"I know what you can get me," said Jenna.

"And that is?"

"A prank on Barb to ring in the New Year," said Jenna. "I come back January fifth at 7:30 am and I expect a prank."

"I'll see what I can do," said Greg. She hugged him.

"Have a good Christmas." He found a little hard to let her go. He stepped back and opened the cab door.

"You too," he shut the cab door behind her and the cab drove off and left him alone in the parking lot. He shook his head and went back to Dana and the party.

Jenna came in a little before 7:30 on January fifth and saw Greg already at his desk with a small grin.

"Happy new year," said Jenna.

"Barb's not here yet…just wait," he said. Jenna sat down and started looking through what she had left on her desk two weeks ago and Barb walked in and headed to her side of the room. Jenna saw Greg almost bouncing in his chair, than she heard a scream from Barb. Greg got straight-faced and started typing, Jenna followed suit and when Barb came over she was red in the face.

"Where is it?"

"Where is what?" asked Jenna.

"My desk, where is my desk I know you did it!"

"Jenna just walked in," said Marv.

"Barb where is the last place you put your desk?" asked Greg. Jenna started to giggle.

"You two are so unprofessional and how you two expect to function in the real world is beyond me. When Mitch hears about this," Barb stormed off in the direction of Mitch's office.

"Colder," called Greg. Barb looked at him and took a step back.

"Warmer." Barb started walking towards the break room and the bathrooms.

"Hot." She walked passed the men's bathroom. "Hotter."

Barb marched into the Men's bathroom. "Oh you're hot, you're so hot, you're on fire," cried Greg. Jenna put her head down on the desk and was laughing so hard she was shaking. She looked up at Greg and he was grinning.

"Merry late Christmas," he told her.

"Right back at ya." They watched Barb try to move her desk from the bathroom all morning and later on got called into to Mitch's office, while he supported their creativity, putting their co-workers desk in the bathroom was not a good outlet for creativity. He encouraged them to take an art class instead. They left Mitch's office grinning.

"That was the best present ever," said Jenna. Greg knew that he had his friend back and was really happy. But, he still kept looking at her when she wasn't looking and he knew that what he felt for Jenna went beyond being his best friend.

Writers note-Sorry for the long delay between updates-four more weeks of school and than three weeks of Winter Break, I hope to have more time to write than. It's in a notebook; it's just the issue of putting in Word.

I hope the 'thoughts' weren't confusing, I'm sure that everyone at one point in time has had a fight with themselves about wanting something and I think that what happened between Greg and Jenna would cause a great deal of internal conflict. One guy friend of mine once said "We all have that one hot friend and it's always a battle to stay friends and not push for that something more" So I was going from that when writing for Greg.

More to come.


	14. Dinner with the Olaf's

Dinner with the Olaf's

Jenna was taking her day off to finish up the last of the accounting paper work for the bakery when she heard a knock at the door. Sighing, she paused the Vanessa Carlton cd she had on and answered the door. She was a little surprised to see Grissom and another older man with him.

"Miss. Bianchi, you remember me?" asked Grissom.

"Mr. Grissom, with the Crime Lab. Do you want to come in?" They nodded and Jenna let them in. Grissom looked around the living room, another way to understand someone was how they lived. Jenna was neat; he could spot that right away. Pictures were gathered on a table, Grissom looked them, family photos from the looks of them. Pictures of a much younger Jenna and her family from high school, Jenna with a woman in a wedding dress and a man in a suit, who had a resemblance to Jenna. One of Jenna and the woman in the wedding dress at some holiday function with a small child.

"She's cute" asked Grissom holding up a photo with Jenna and the small child at some fair.

"That's my niece, my brother's daughter. She's five," Jenna was nervous, she didn't know why, but she wanted them gone.

"I'm Captain Jim Brass with the Vegas PD, sorry for bothering you at home. But we need to ask you some follow up question."

"I thought I explained the rolling pin," said Jenna. Grissom looked up and stared at her.

"Rolling pin?" he asked. Jenna gulped.

"Two of your CSI's came back to the bakery and asked me why my prints were on the pin used to kill that woman. I explained that it's my pin and my brother got it for me as a joke and that I was the only one who used that pin, hence my prints on it." Grissom raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glace with Brass. Jenna took a sip of the water she had on the table.

"Was this yesterday?" asked Grissom.

"Yes."

"Which CSI were they?" asked Brass.

"Um, Stokes and Sanders, I think."

_"What the hell do they want?"_ thought Jenna.

"They must of forgot to report to me. Actually this is about what time you came home," said Grissom. Brass and Grissom took a seat on the sofa and Jenna sat in a chair.

"You told CSI Stokes you left the bakery around midnight, but according to your neighbors you didn't come home till about 2 am. Henderson is only an hour from your bakery, where did that other hour go."

"_FUCK!"_ Jenna took another sip of her water and thought. _"Don't tell them where you were, it will ruin her life."_

"I must have lost track of time, I thought it was midnight, but then again I work so many hours sometimes I forget when I leave." Grissom looked at Jenna and it was the same feeling he got from her at the bakery.

_"She upset and covering for something or someone,"_ he thought.

"Understandable. I'm sorry for bothering you." Grissom stood up and Brass looking confused followed. Jenna got the door for them and watched them get in the car, sit there for a few moments and drive off.

"What the hell Gil, you weren't going to confront her with the fact that the alarm upstairs has her leaving at midnight? If she left through the kitchen…" said Brass

"She's covering up something and I would like to know what or for whom she's doing this for."

"Her prints are on the murder weapon," said Brass.

"I would like to know why Nick and Greg didn't fill me on their last visit or on Mandy's report," said Grissom heading back to the lab.

Jenna fell on to the sofa after getting herself a rum and coke. She sighed and wondered when her life got so fucked up.

_"I can't let them know where I was last night…fucking nosy neighbors."_ Jenna took another drink and fiddled with her necklace. She knew she wasn't going to get anymore work done. She decided to pack it up and take it with tomorrow morning. She sat down, then got back up, her nerves were shot and her mind was going in fifty different places. She walked into her bedroom and into the closet. She pulled down a box, which she only touched when she needed a reminder about how much pain he could cause and why she should stay away. Seeing him again caused her confusion, she missed him, well she missed the person she had known eight years ago, the Greg Sanders she was dealing with wasn't the person she fell so hard for. She wanted to come clean and tell them where she was that night, but she made a promise and there was one thing she was good at was keeping her promises.

_"We could explain to him what happened…you guys were friends once…he would understand, you went to help out a friend."_ Jenna tuned that voice out and opened the box and in it was her life from almost eight years ago.

_"You were happy…it was the last you were really, truly happy and he yanked away from you, just like the magician you took Anya to see, he pulled out the table cloth, but the table was still set. Greg yanked the table cloth and everything fell apart, you fell apart. Just keep that in mind when you see him and want to tell him how much you still really love him."_ Jenna heard that voice loud and clear. She didn't know why she kept any of this; she should burn it all in her fire pit and take the ashes to the desert. She touched the necklace, she never took it off, his last gift to her was this damn necklace and she had tried several times to stop wearing it. But she felt naked without it, a feeling she never got after taking off the ring Andy gave her. Jenna shook her head and started looking through the box; the letters he sent back to her were on the top.

She made sure those stayed on top, it was the reminder of how badly he hurt her. She took them out and found the pictures of them from Stanford: Halloween, Christmas, random snap shots of them taken by their co-workers. She dug a little deeper and pulled out a wine cork with a date written on 2/21/98. Jenna gave the cork a bitter smile and remembered the dinner she had gone to with Greg's grandparents. His grandmother had read her palm over dinner; Jenna could recall quite clearly what the old woman had told her after looking over her hand.

"You're a good person, but you have hard hands, there will be hard work and struggle for you, but when it's all said and done, what you love will be waiting."

_"She was right about the struggle…but he's wasn't there at the end."_

Stanford, California

February 1998

"I'm looking forward to meeting your grandparents," said Jenna during their morning break. Greg's grandparents were coming in to visit him; they were going to meet him here and than going to dinner with him and Dana.

"Why are you so interested in meeting my family?" asked Greg. Jenna grinned and pulled out a wallet.

"I have so many questions to ask them. Like, when Greg was younger did he enjoy messing with people's heads? Like, we're going to do to Barb right now."

"Is that…"

"Yep, she dropped it in the parking lot this morning and I know I should have just given it to her, but Greg, this could be the prank to end all pranks. Her life is in here. Driver's license, credit cards, Blockbuster membership, the list goes on. I don't know what to do with it, I mean should I go to Blockbuster, rent some porn and turn them in a year later, buy a donkey and give it to a frat house boy to host donkey shows with. My mind is reeling from the power I hold in my hands." Greg started laughing.

"It worries me that you know what a donkey show is," Jenna shrugged.

"I have an older brother and the internet…never open an e-mail titled: Donkey ride. But, Greg we have to do something with this. I can't decide." Greg looked at the wallet and got a horrible idea.

"Did you move anything around?"

"No." Greg took the wallet.

"Ok, follow me and look really super serious," Jenna put her poker face on and followed Greg to Barb's desk. Greg sat the wallet down on Barb's desk and she look horrified to see what he had.

"Hey you dropped this outside," said Greg. Barb snatched it up and looked at it like it could explode any second.

"What did you two do?"

"Nothing," said Greg in the sweetest voice he had. Barb opened the wallet and made sure everything was there.

"You're lying," said Barb.

"Now why would we do that?" asked Jenna. Barb ripped out a card and starting calling the 1 800 number on the back.

"Yes, I would like to know if any unusual charges on my account." They waited till they got back to their desks before laughing out loud.

"God that was beautiful," said Jenna.

"Just a change in tactics is all, she's going to feel retarded when she finds out we were telling the truth." Jenna smiled at Greg and they realized how close they were and that Marv was looking at them.

"I should get to work," Jenna sat down and started typing away. Greg went to his PC and tried to work, but he looked over at Jenna and felt that longing in his gut. It had been eating at him since Christmas.

He was thinking about her in ways that he should never have crossed his mind in a thousand years. She was very beautiful, he had no trouble admitting that anymore and he tried to explain his thoughts away with that argument, but part of him knew it was more than a physical want and that ate at him even more. He looked up and thought he saw her looking in his direction, but she quickly turned and flipped open a file. Greg sighed and went back to his work.

_"And that's why you two are always flirting and exchanging stares at each other when you think no one is looking?"__ asked Mary_. Had they been doing that, and how long had they been doing it? Greg noticed he was staring at Jenna a lot after the wedding, but had he done it before then and just not noticed what he was doing. But, he never saw Jenna looking at him, until just now and he wasn't even sure it was a stare. He wanted to bang his head against a wall. He made himself clear to her a Christmas, friends, nothing else. Part of him now wished he could take back those words and he wished he could get the courage up to ask her what he wanted to at the wedding.

_"She had or she has."_

Jenna ducked her head into the file the moment Greg turned in her direction. She knew now how Greg really felt about her and she was trying to keep herself together. She told herself, no more flirting, no more staring at him, no more daydreams or dreams about the two of you together. However, telling herself and following those rules were a different story.

Flirting-hell she couldn't tell the difference anymore. Normal chatting and flirting with Greg were almost second nature to her now. She had tried the not talking approach with him when she was with Roberto and it hurt him and she wasn't taking that road again.

Staring-She would do it without realizing she was doing it and when she realized she was doing it, she smacked herself and buried herself in the work on her desk.

Dreams-She would pay someone a million dollars if they could make the fucking dreams stop…literally dreams with them having sex, she wished they stop they had gotten worst since Christmas. She wake up and realize it was a dream and cry herself back to sleep. She really didn't know what was wrong with her anymore, she almost couldn't wait until Greg graduated this May and got work somewhere else, and he was looking at a crime lab in San Francisco.

They had acted like everything was the same between them since Christmas, they went to lunch, pranks were played and while Greg seemed happy, she felt an odd vibe coming from him, like he was forcing himself to act that way and Jenna found it a little harder each day to pretend that she wasn't in love with him.

_"He'll go away_, _I'll finish school here and go back to Vegas and we'll go our separate ways and soon we'll just be footnotes in stories we tell our kids in our old age."_ She knew she would be miserable when he left, but part of her was miserable with him here and she didn't know which miserable would be worse. She smiled at an IM that popped up from himasking if he should go see if Barb was finished with her calling the credit card companies.

"Let her suffer," Jenna typed back.

_"At least we won't be alone."_

Jenna had gone to take a late lunch with Mitch and Laura; they were going to help her put together a resume and references for some internship she was looking at. Greg hoped she got it; he saw how hard she worked putting herself through school and he didn't think he could ever do what she had been doing for the past two years. This job for him was spending money and he could quit if he really wanted to, but for Jenna it was another class or textbooks. He had to admire how hard she really worked at everything. Greg sighed and called Dana to confirm the time and place they were going to meet his grandparents.

"That's tonight…I have to work!" said Dana. Greg reminded himself he was at work and he couldn't swear.

"I told you about this weeks ago. They're coming out here for one night and than going to Canada. I didn't get to see them at Christmas and they really wanted to meet you. I thought you had tonight off!"

"I traded shifts with Ana so I could have this weekend off, my friends from Boston are coming in and I haven't seen them since this summer." Greg sighed and rubbed his temple and felt a head ache coming on.

"I'll tell them you're sorry."

"I'm really sorry sweetheart, I promise the next time they come to town I'll spend all day with them." Greg saw Mitch, Laura and Jenna walk back in and was almost grateful for it.

"Hey my boss is back, I have to go. I'll see you later," Greg hung up the phone and saw Jenna hugging Mitch and Laura and she walked back to her seat and smiled at Greg. He smiled back and returned to his work and tried really hard to focus on his work not the disappointment he felt with Dana or the confusion he felt with Jenna.

Greg was typing away when his grandparents snuck in. Jenna looked up and saw two elderly people sneaking up on him. Jenna went to say something, when the older man made a shushing gesture. Jenna nodded and just watched. The old woman tapped him on the shoulder and Greg almost fell out of his chair. He turned around, smiled and got out of his chair to hug them.

"Papa Olaf, Nana Olaf." Jenna just smiled from her chair, he was just too cute.

"Oh I'm so sore, car rides are a horrible thing for me in my age. Is there a bathroom around here," Greg pointed to the restrooms in the break room and he headed that way. Jenna went to get up to introduce herself when she saw his grandmother take Greg's hands and whisper something in Norwegian, she couldn't understand any it other than her name. Greg went slightly red and muttered.

"Nana Olaf." The old lady shrugged and started talking in English.

"I just want to meet the girl your mother says you chatter about so much." Greg seemed to go even redder at that remark. Jenna quickly turned back to her work

_"It's nothing, you guys are friends, you spend over twenty hours a week in the same place and your name was bound to come up in a conversation with his mother,"_ thought Jenna.

"Jenna," she turned around and saw Barb standing there with what could be considered a kind expression even though she was glaring. "I'm sorry that I doubted you and Greg. My cards show no unusual activity of any kind. It shows growth and maturity for both of you."

"See it hurts me when you don't believe me. I told you we didn't do anything and we were telling the truth. See if Greg and I were going to use anything in that wallet, it would have been the Blockbuster card, we would leave town, rent some movies and turn them in at least two weeks later." Barb looked fearful and ran back to her desk; Jenna started to laugh to herself.

"So you're the ice girl my grandson talks about." Jenna looked up and saw Greg's grandfather by her desk. Jenna stood up and shook his hand.

"How do you do Mr. Hojem? I'm Jenna Bianchi."

"Ah an Italian girl, but please call me Papa Olaf." He was a sweet guy and Jenna couldn't help but notice how he and Greg resembled each other. He was about Greg's height, but at least fifty pounds heavier and losing his sandy hair, but he had Greg's sweet brown eyes. "You know I almost married an Italian girl, her cooking was to die for, but her temper was dreadful."

"Don't tell her such lies and stop embarrassing Greg," Greg's grandmother came over with a very sheepish looking Greg behind her. The older woman gave Jenna a hug. She was a little shorter than Jenna and her long white hair was pulled back in a braid.

"She had a terrible temper because he told her a meatloaf she made was too dry, so she threw at him. But, I've heard about you and you sound like a sweet heart." Jenna blushed and Greg seemed to be getting redder by the second.

"Well we should be heading out. Greg where is Dana meeting us for dinner?" asked Papa Olaf. Greg looked slightly upset.

"Um, she has to work tonight, so it's just us for dinner."

"Oh well, we'll get to know your wonderful new friend instead," said Papa Olaf throwing an arm around Jenna shoulders. Jenna looked shocked and Greg was stammering.

"No. I meant me, you and Nana."

"What nonsense and how rude of you Greg. I'm telling you young lady you either come with us or I'll be very upset," said Nana. Jenna looked at Greg, who smiled shyly at her.

"Got any plans for tonight?"

"I was gonna go home, put on some pj's and watch the X-files, but you know I can't say no to a free meal."

"And who said it was free?" asked Greg.

"Pretty girls always eat for free, now let's go before I waste away," said Papa. Jenna turned around to punch out and Greg bent down.

"I'm really sorry about this."

"It's cool, I said I wanted to meet your grandparents anyway." She turned and looked at Greg with a smile. "They better have baby pictures, Mulder and Scully looked like they were finally gonna get it on in the preview. I'm missing David Duchovny hotness for you." Greg laughed and looked into Jenna's eyes and found himself wanting to kiss her suddenly, they stood there for a second and Jenna pulled away and grabbed her purse.

"Um where are we going?" asked Jenna. Greg wanted to kick himself, she knew, somehow, what he had been thinking.

_Damn it Sanders, don't tell her one thing and do another."_

"Do you like steak?" he asked.

"That's a dumb question?"

"Are we eating here?" asked Papa from across the office.

"Depends, do you like two week old candy bars?" asked Jenna heading for the door, Greg shook his head. This was going to be one hell of a night.

"So they threw you out of Norway for pre-marital sex. Gee, I thought the Catholic church was harsh," said Jenna.

"For the pre-marital baby really. By the way how is Uncle Dane" asked Greg. Nana blushed.

"Why do you tell everyone that story?" Papa shrugged and Nana shook her head.

"No more wine for you," Nana took the bottle and went to hand it to a waiter.

"Hey can I have the cork," asked Jenna. Greg raised an eyebrow.

"Cork collector?" Jenna play smacked him.

"It's something my mom did, when there was a special occasion and she had wine, she took the cork, wrote the date on it and saved it. My grandmother did the same thing, and this is my first time having wine so it counts as a special occasion. So suck on that Sanders."

"Don't make her mad Greg, Italian girls have really good aim," said Papa.

"He's right; my mom could throw pans with the best of them." Greg laughed and was happy that dinner wasn't turning into the train wreck he feared it would. Jenna was polite and answered all his grandparents' questions about her family, schooling and anything else they could think to hurl at her. Greg was waiting for them to ask for a DNA sample, but they really seemed to like her and vice versa.

"Did Greg tell you that I do palm readings?" asked Nana.

"Nope, he's really quite at work."

"Why do you lie like that?" asked Greg.

"Ok, you're quite about your family at work, there not a lie," said Jenna. Nana reached over and took Jenna's left hand and started to look at her palm. Jenna looked slightly alarmed.

"Oh it's alright, I won't bite you. You've been such a sweetie and I'm curious about what the future holds for you," said Nana. Jenna exchanged a look with Greg.

"_What did you get me into,"_ was what that look said and Greg shrugged.

"Aren't you curious?" he asked.

"What if my palm says I die next week, than what?" she asked.

"Oh don't worry dear, you have a long life line," said Nana tracing a line on Jenna's hand. Jenna giggled and Greg gave her a puzzled look

"Sorry, it tickled. Do you see the money line or does that not exist on my hand?" asked Jenna. Nana traced a line on Jenna's hand and then another.

"You'll do alright for yourself, these lines here though, they trouble me."

"Because.." asked Jenna.

"Your heart line and your fate line cross several times. You're a good person, but you have hard hands, there will be hard work and struggle for you, but when it's all said and done, what you love will be waiting." Jenna took her hand out of Nana's and looked really uncomfortable. Nana saw it and blushed.

"I'm sorry sweetie; I didn't mean to upset you, at least you know what to expect," said Nana. Jenna smiled.

"It's ok, I already knew about the hard work part; at least I get something at the end." She was trying to joke it off, Greg knew her well enough to know she felt weird, but she was being polite and he felt the butterflies come back. Most people would be running the other way, even friends had their limitations, but there she was.

"Here I'll make it up to you. Here are pictures of Greg when he was younger. Would you like to see them?"

"Oh Nana, don't! Please," pleaded Greg. Jenna grinned and took the box Nana was holding. Jenna started laughing and showed him a picture of when he was three and dressed in tin-foil for Halloween.

"Oh you were so cute."

"Were cute?" asked Greg in mock angry.

"You're still cute, but this is toddler cute. A totally different genre of cute," said Jenna. Nana dug through the box and pulled out another photo.

"This is his senior year picture." Jenna took it and started to laugh. He was wearing a suit, tie and hair that wouldn't stay flat.

"You looked exactly like this on your first day at work," said Jenna.

"I did not."

"You so did."

"So what genre of cute is it?" asked Papa.

"Dorky cute!"

"Dorky! I can't wait till you're family comes out here and I get to see you in toddler cute pictures," said Greg

"That will be the day," said Jenna.

"I've embarrassed him enough for tonight," Nana put the box away and Jenna looked at Greg.

"You're still cute though."

"Well I guess I can forgive you," said Greg.

"It's good to see that Greg has found such a sweet friend. Good friends are hard to come by," said Papa.

"Greg's a good friend, I was bored to tears before he started working there."

"Greg has told us what a little prankster you are, you make him laugh a great deal," said Nana. Greg could feel Jenna start to blush and she took a sip of her water.

"What can I say, I aim to please."

"My grandson was lucky to find you, very lucky," said Papa. Jenna went absolute red and Greg called for the check.

Greg drove back to Jenna's apartment to drop her off than go pick up Papa and Nana's car. They pulled into the apartment complex and Jenna gave both his grandparents a hug before getting out.

"It was very nice to meet you."

"It was also very nice to meet you. Stay sweet," said Nana. Jenna got out of the car and started to head to her apartment, when Papa tapped Greg on the back of the head.

"Where are your manners, walk the girl to the door." Greg turned the car off and got out.

"You don't have too," said Jenna.

"It will make them happy," said Greg. They walked up the stairs and to Jenna's door.

"Thanks for dinner."

"Well thank you for being such a good sport about the twenty questions, the palm reading and my baby photos."

"I didn't mind they were sweet people." Jenna took out her keys and got them in the lock.

"Jenna…" She stopped and looked him in the eyes. Greg was feeling pulled under by her eyes again. That overwhelming urge to kiss her came back in waves. Jenna turned the keys, unlocked the door and opened it.

"Um, good night, I'll see you on Monday," she said.

"Yeah, good night Jen," Greg waited until he heard the deadbolt click and headed back down to the car. His grandparents could see the disappointment in his face.

"Tell me you kissed her good night," said Papa. Greg started the car and drove off.

"No," Greg started the car and his grandparents started muttering in Norwegian.

"That girl is in love with you and you're half way there. Why are you fighting it sweetheart?" asked Nana. Greg found himself at a loss for words; he had never really questioned why he denied it and he went back the argument he had been using with himself since Christmas.

"She's my best friend and I'm seeing someone."

"You're seeing her, she's not seeing you," said Papa.

"What's that suppose to mean." Greg felt annoyed with their meddling and it came out in his voice.

"Now don't get mad, we're just pointing out what we saw tonight and what your mother has told us. You're a nice young man, Gregory, but Dana isn't a nice lady. Your mother told us about all the fights you two have and how you have to fight with her to do anything with you. She makes you so sad, than your mother tells about the nice office lady you've become friends with and she told us she can almost see a smile on your face when you talk about her over the phone. Than we meet her and she's sweet and kind and all the things you want to fall in love with and you push it away. Why are you still with someone who makes you so unhappy when the person who puts a smile on your face with no effort is right in front of you?" asked Nana. When faced with the question coming from his own grandmother and pointing out everything he had been ignoring for over a year he couldn't think of a good answer.

"I don't know, I mean a part of me still cares about Dana and I used to really love her and I just wanna feel that way again."

"You can lead a horse to water, it doesn't mean they're going to drink," said Papa. Greg nodded and the rest of the car ride was quite, he got them back to the office parking lot where their car was. They all got out and hugs were exchanged.

"We just want you to be happy sweetie. I just want you to know that when you look at her, you get a look in your eye that I see your grandfather get when we're alone, and I saw the same look in your mother's eyes when she brought your father home for the first time, just think about it," said Nana.

"I'll try," he said. She gave him one more tight hug and got in the other car with Papa and they drove away. Greg got back in his car and turned up one of his Manson cd's in an effort to drown out his thoughts. It was a wasted effort; his grandparents' words were eating at him.

_"Jenna told you about her crush on me on me at the beach party." _

_"No she had a crush on you at the beach party," Mitch corrected him. Greg blinked and he felt like the world had shifted and Mitch realized what he had done._

_"Look forget I said anything, she's with someone, and you're with someone. You guys are good friends and you always will be friends."_ It bothered Greg though, why didn't she just tell him the truth to start with…than he realized that he couldn't even ask her to tell him the truth because it was hard. He could only fathom how hard it was for her telling him part of the truth. After Mitch told him, he found himself question every second he spent with Jenna, he found himself thinking things about her that he should never have thought. Their mishap at the Christmas party cemented those thoughts in his head, because he knew what he could of had.

_"Stop trying to fool yourself…you want her don't you? That's why you stare when she isn't looking. That's why you didn't move when she fell on you. That's why you were going to press onward with her in storage room, you want her so bad you can taste it can't you? I bet she's sweet, she felt sweet didn't she?"_ _asked that evil little voice. Greg had to sit down; he hurt from the conflict in his own head. _ Yes he wanted, he wanted her in ways that he never wanted anyone before, not even Dana had made feel like that. He was surprised to himself in his parking lot at home. He got out and let himself into his apartment, he didn't turn on any of the lights, just went and laid down in his bed.

What the hell was wrong with him, she was his friend, growing up a child prodigy had been lonely to say the least. Yeah, he had friends, but there was never a true connection. He couldn't connect with people his own age, they couldn't keep up with mentally and after awhile they just wanted to be friends with him for homework copying. The fact that Dana had expressed interest in him for him and not homework was a shock to him, their relationship was just something he fell into and stayed there. He knew Dana wasn't the brightest person, but he cared about her and there were moments when she really cared about him.

Jenna was the first person he could connect with, ever really connected with, she kept him on his toes, challenged him to think. Granted it was about what their next prank would be on Barb, but she made him think. There were times were even he had trouble keeping up with her and how quick she could think of something new to do or a new way to annoy Barb. He was always in awe of how fast she could think on her feet and get them out of trouble with Mitch. She could make him laugh with one well placed remark or a glance. She always went out of her way to cheer him up when he was down. But wasn't that what friends did? He wanted to rip his brain out of his head, just so he wouldn't have to think anymore. He felt a head ache coming on and he could hear the two voices that came up when he thought about Jenna in any way other than his friend.

_"She always runs away when you get close, did you ever notice that. If she wants you the way you want her, why does she run?"_ said his rational side.

_"Did you ever think that she might be as scared as you are? You didn't want to lose her has a friend ,isn't that's why you backed down at Christmas and gave her that 'we're friends and we'll always be friend," line. Maybe she's the same way…just as scared about taking that step as you are. You and I both know what you want, it's gone past that physical ache, that want, you need her, she it for you. It's become more than having sex with her. You see her and you see your life, someone who will always be there, someone who can understand you without a word. Why are you still here…go…call her…get in your car and stand on her door step until she lets you in. Do something damn it!" _

He couldn't do it though, he couldn't deal with what would happen if Jenna told him no, it was late, she didn't feel that for him anymore. It would break him and he would lose her and that feeling he got just by being in the room with her. It was better this way, he knew his feelings now and at least he could have some peace with himself and still hold on to her.

_"You're a moron and you don't deserve her if you can't take that step!" _ Greg got undressed and went to sleep. When Dana came in later that night and into his bed, they had sex, but the lights were off and he kept his eyes closed the whole time. He thought of tan skin, dark hair and green eyes. He thought of the smell of pine trees and how she felt like silk in his hands.

_"Lie to yourself all you want, we know better." _

Jenna closed her apartment door and fell against it. Twice…twice in one day Greg Sanders looked like he was going to kiss her and she walked away from it. It hurt like having acid thrown in your face, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't kiss him now, she promised herself he wasn't going to get that last little bit of herself she had left. Besides, he told her to her face at Christmas…friends always, nothing else. Why all of sudden was he trying to put the moves on her? Did he get something out of screwing her head, because if he was the least he could do was give her a cut.

_"He tries to feel you up at Christmas, but sends out no-no beams__ and we walk away from something we've wanted for over a year now. He tells you you're his friend and nothing else, than makes kissy eyes at you and we walk away again, because of what he said in December."_

She got undressed and into some fuzzy pj's and crawled into bed. She hoped the wine from dinner would help her get a dreamless sleep. She woke up around 2 am, realized she was alone again and started to cry.

Vegas 2005

She was crying again, he could bring her tears with just a memory. It wasn't fair, how he quickly he could break her. Looking back, she should never have let herself fall so hard for him. He made it so easy for her to, no one, in all the years before and after him, had any man given her the respect or passion that he did. Jenna wiped her eyes and decided that when this was done and they found out who killed Bridezilla, she was burning this box and spreading the ashes in the desert and that would be the last time she ever dealt with Greg Sanders again.

She fiddled with the jade charm he gave her before she came back to Vegas. She sell that after she burned her box, take the money and use it to buy booze or take the staff out for dinner, she just wanted it and him gone and out of her life again. She put the letters and pictures back in the box and noticed that a white rose petal was sticking to one of the pictures. Jenna took the petal off and tossed the pictures and letters back in the box. She shut the box and put it away, than looked down at the petal in her hand.

_"He bought you white roses after your first time together. When you finally broke and you let him have that last little piece of yourself. Looking back, it wasn't a fair trade off, all of you for a dozen white roses and some wine."_ Jenna took that petal, walked into her kitchen and threw it in the trash were it belonged. She made herself sit down and finish the last of the invoices, took a hot bath and crawled into bed and was happy that she fell into one of those dreamless sleeps.

Writers note-I've learned that when I have writers block with a school paper, I go back to this and soon find the writer's block gone and I can finish another term paper. So yeah, another chapter done. I couldn't find a website that had Norwegian translator…damn it.

Next Chapter-I'm sorry I made you wait…Jenna and Greg finally come clean…for those who have been loyal readers, I'm sure that this is what you've been waiting for. And I'm sorry for the wait you had to go through.

Love it, hate it, review it.


	15. I'm sorry I made you wait

I'm sorry I made you wait

Stanford, California

March 1998

About two weeks had passed since his grandparents had come to town and he was still bothered by their words and right now he was happy they weren't here to see the fight he was in with Dana. It would just prove them right on everything.

"I don't know why it's such a big deal Greg. What's wrong with staying in San Francisco, it's close to your family, my family, our friends. Why the hell do you want to uproot and start over?"

"I just wanted to know if I ever got the chance to move to another lab, would you come with me. That's all, a simple yes/no or 'I need to think about it' answer would have done it. You screaming at me isn't." Greg snapped.

He was sorry he had brought up the topic. The lab with the San Francisco PD called yesterday afternoon, told him that they would be delighted to take him. However, other lab offers had started to come in: New York, Boston, and Atlanta had started to come calling for him and they all looked really promising. Good DNA techs were always in high demand; he could easily move to New York and start pulling close to a six figure salary in less than four years if he proved good enough. He wanted to know how Dana felt, if she would be interested in coming with him. By her reaction, you think that it was the end of the world.

"Why the hell would I want to move across the country. I'm happy here, I don't know why you aren't?" she asked.

"I am happy, but if the chance comes to do something better, I wanted to know if you would be their?" Greg had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

"No, I'm sorry I can't." Greg nodded and went to get ready for work. Dana followed him. "Oh now you're going to act all pissy with me, big surprise there."

"Why are we fighting?"

"You started it!"

"No I asked you a simple question, you started it by asking me, 'what kind of fool do you take me for? Why the hell would I leave California?' And than called me a bunch of names."

"Well why would I?" she asked.

"I don't know, for me, our relationship. Those are two good points." Greg got a shirt on and started tying his shoes. God he wanted away from her right now, he never thought he would be this desperate to go to work.

"Do we have a relationship?" asked Dana. Greg turned around.

"What do you call damn near living together and the sex we have?" snapped Greg. Dana sighed.

"I didn't mean for this to go on for so long," Greg froze and he felt hurt.

"What?"

"This, us. You're nice and you're a great guy, but come on," said Dana. Greg clenched his jaw.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?'

"We don't work well at all. I wanted to make it work, because you wanted to make it work, but Greg. I can't stand this anymore, this is a waste of time." Greg was past hurt, he was pissed.

"So I'm a waste of time, you couldn't tell me this a year ago. What the fuck Dana." She picked up her purse.

"I can't be with you anymore Greg. We drive each other nuts, this is isn't working and it's just a waste of time trying." Greg was really pissed now.

"Why couldn't you tell me this fucking ages ago. Why now, huh?" She glared at him.

"Because it's time to move on now, you're moving I don't get why you're so pissed at me about wanting the same thing. We had our fun, but being with you is a lost cause. I'm done." She walked out the door leaving Greg a fuming mess. He picked up the breakfast dishes and slammed them into the sink.

_Unimaginable bitch…what the hell. I ask her to be with me and she throws it in my face! Bitch!!!! I'm a waste of time…what the fuck._ Greg was so pissed he was shaking, he couldn't remember ever being this pissed off.

_Well she's right in a way; you two are horrible for each other. _ Greg groaned he wasn't in the mood for a debate with himself; however his brain had other plans.

_Maybe she heard you talking in your sleep and she dumping you now, because she knows it's not her you want._ Greg got his lunch together and tried to forget about his latest dream, he was dreaming about Jenna again. This one was on the beach, a thing of mineral oil and her.

He slammed more dishes into the sink and he felt his pissed off mood turn to Jenna. Why couldn't she have been quite on Beach Day, why the hell did she have to tell Mitch anything? If she hadn't of told Mitch, Mitch wouldn't have told him anything and things between them would be normal and he wouldn't have to deal with waking up in the middle of night wanting something he couldn't have. He slammed the door and locked it. This was Jenna's fault, entirely her fault.

_Oh hell no. Don't blame her for your shitty relationship coming to an end because she was honest…well sort of honest. She has more balls than you do at least she knows what she wants._ Greg drove to work, breaking at least three major traffic laws and headed into the office. He was going to drag her into that stairwell and let her have it, she drove him crazy and his thoughts about her put a hole in his relationship. Deep down he knew it wasn't true, he just wanted someone to blame and Jenna was a convenient target. He was surprised to see her desk empty and somehow her not being there pissed him off even more.

"Where's Jenna?" asked Greg turning to Marv.

"Interview, for the internship, remember? Are you ok Greg?"

"Yeah, peachy," he slammed down into his desk and Marv backed off. He really wished the two of them would stop this retarded dance they were in. Everyone saw how crazy they were for each other. Marv saw it first, Jenna was always quite, and the only time she acted up before Greg was when Barb started calling her Jenny. She told Marv that she was going to put the hole punch in ice and she would be done. A week of putting her stuff in ice she drive the point home. Than Greg came and was instantly amused by it, and Jenna started pulling more pranks. It was her way of getting close to him, Greg encouraged her, his way of getting close to her. It was childish, but at the same time it was cute to see people fall in love with each other over a frozen two hole punch. Marv shook his head and went back to work. Around ten Jenna came into work, beaming. She headed into Mitch's office first and after a couple of minutes, they both came out and Mitch was calling the office to attention.

"I'm sorry to bother everyone, I'll make this quick. Our little Jen here was able to get an internship with Hartman and Cedar, which we all know is one of the best marketing firms in the state. Our little miss will be leaving us in August and I'm sure she'll take all her experience that we taught her and make us proud."

"What experience?" asked Leo getting the office to laugh.

"I don't know Leo, maybe I'll take your dirty dancing skills with me," said Jenna getting the office laughing even harder.

Greg stayed glued to his desk not saying a word or even looking up. Mitch said something about a going away party and everyone went back to work. Jenna came skipping over to his desk after she punched in. She sat down on his desk and started chatting a mile a minute.

"Oh my god Greg, I really didn't think they would give it to me, because my resume wasn't as good as some of the other people up for it. I mean they had lots of club activities and stuff. All I had was my job here and my grades, but I really sold them during the interview." She started unpinning her hair from a braid bun and kept talking. "I told them I had real world experience helping my mom with her bakery and they started asking me…"

"Go away." She finished unbraiding her hair and looked at him shocked.

"What?" He looked her dead in the eyes.

"Go away, leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you right now; in fact I don't when I'll wanna talk to you again." He said it so quietly that only Jenna and Marv heard him. Marv turned around and dropped his jaw and waited for the fallout. Jenna not only heard him, but she heard the hate in his voice and saw it in his eyes. She bit the inside of her check and nodded, she was shaking with the effort it took not to cry. Laura walked over and started chatting.

"Oh I'm so proud of you, sweetie, I knew you could do it. I have some forms…" Laura stopped and took in the scene. Her husband was staring at Greg and Jenna who looked like they wanted to tear each other apart.

"Laura, you still behind on those personal reports?" asked Jenna her voice tense.

"Yeah."

"Would it be alright if I went over to HR and helped you with them? I don't have any work on my desk." Laura nodded; Jenna got off Greg's desk, grabbed her stuff and slammed over to HR. Greg went back to slamming his keys. Laura looked at Marv and mouthed.

"What the hell?"

"I don't know," he mouthed back. Laura shook her head and went back to HR. Marv looked at Greg.

"Greg?"

"What?"

"Don't take that tone with me, I'll take you out back and kick your ass. I wanted to know if you would like to have lunch with me this afternoon?" asked Marv.

"Sure, why not," snapped Greg getting up to get some more coffee. Marv shook his head and wondered why kids these days were so damn slow.

Greg kept looking up and expected Jenna to be there, when he realized that she wasn't and it was because he said something totally uncalled for and hurtful, he felt like someone was taking his fingers and slamming them in a door. He was just so furious with Dana, he was furious with himself for feeling what he was feeling about Jenna.

_We told you not to take your failed relationship issues and drop them on her. God you are a dick. You couldn't even let her be happy for five seconds before ripping into her. She wouldn't have done that to you. I hope she stays over in HR or another part of the office until May and you leave, you don't even deserve to be in the same room with her after the bullshit this morning..._ Greg wanted to go in to HR and beg her to come back to her desk, play a prank with him, talk with him, anything. He thought the three months they went barely talking hurt, this was much worst. At least they were able to fix that and go back to normal; he didn't think that anything would fix what he said. He put a file aside and went to grab another one, when Marv poked him.

"Still want food?" Greg nodded, he just wanted out of here and away from that empty desk.

"So…" said Marv picking at his food.

"Yeah?"

"I'm no good at being subtle, that's Laura's job. So I'm just gonna cut to the chase. What the hell is going on with you and Jenna? I never thought that I would hear you tell Jenna to go fuck off."

"I didn't say that!"

"Not in those words, but telling someone you don't know when you wanna speak to them again, is a nicer way than saying fuck off. What gives, you two have a fight?" Greg shook his head.

"Dana broke up with me this morning."

"Over Jenna?" asked Marv.

"No. I got a job in San Francisco, but other places have started calling and I asked Dana if I got the chance would she come with me. This started a fight and she broke up with me, saying that I was a lost cause and that our relationship was a waste of time."

"Ouch."

"Well before that she called me a lot of names that I didn't hear before and she wanted to know why the hell would she leave California for me."

"Doesn't explain your blow up at Jen though." Greg took a long sip of his water.

"She just….I don't know anymore. Why couldn't she just keep it to herself?" Marv was starting to see it now.

"Her crush, is that what she should have kept to herself?"

"Yes, her damn crush. Why did she have to tell Mitch, huh? Things were fine before she told him anything. And Mitch has an even bigger mouth than her."

"What did Mitch tell you?"

"That she_ had_ a crush on me at the beach party, Jenna told me she _used to have_ a crush on me. Her having and used to have are two different things. If she had a crush on me, why didn't she say anything before she told Mitch? Or just been quite about it"

"You're being very unfair," said Marv. Greg looked at him and blinked.

"My relationship of almost two years ended today and I'm being unfair."

"You and Dana broke up, because you want something more than she does. Jenna has nothing to do with that. You know that. So I'm going to ask you again, why did you blow up her this morning?"

"Because…I don't know." Marv looked him in the eye.

"I'm going to tell you what I think and I have a feeling I'm going to hit the nail on the head. You like her, a lot. It's gone past being her friend and it eats at you, because she is your friend and you can't bear the thought of what would happen if that friendship ended. You throw yourself into a relationship that you know and it's familiar, because it's easier than facing what you're scared of. You're scared of her and what could happen or not happen. It eats at you some more and you can't stand what it's doing to you and you do one of two things: you let it in or you push as far away as possible. You my friend are pushing it away and you'll wake up years from now and wonder why you pushed away something so good." Greg's jaw dropped, it was like Marv reached in and yanked out his thoughts.

"How…"

"How do I know. I pushed Laura away for over ten years because she was my friend and I didn't want to lose that if she said no to me. I was married to someone I couldn't stand for years and I hated every second of it. In the end, we realized that we weren't right for each other and got a divorce. But I wasted my years, my ex-wife's years and Laura's years denying what I knew. And even after my divorce I still had trouble being honest with Laura and she had the same trouble, because she 'kept quite' all those years. She told me after we got married, she wanted to tell me a thousand times a day how she really felt, and she would come over from HR and want to tell me everything, but couldn't do it. She had been quite for so long she didn't know how to say it." Marv took a drink and went on.

"She sigh, and go back to HR and I knew she was there and struggling. Yet, I couldn't do it either. She made me lose so many games of FreeCell because I couldn't focus. What I'm trying to you is, don't waste anymore time and don't get mad at her cause she had the guts to admit part of the truth, be it to you, or Mitch or a bum on the street corner. You think your hurting now; she's been dealing with her issues about you for over a year now. Think about how it felt for her to watch you with Dana and sit in silence. Yeah, she went out with Roberto, but she was doing what you were doing, getting a relationship, because it was easy and was a buffer for her from you."

Greg sat in silence; it never really crossed his mind how Jenna felt. It sounded selfish, but even after he found out about her crush; he acted like nothing had happened. He kept having Dana around Jenna and looking back now he could see something in her eyes, like a light going out. Even before, Jenna told him about the crush he always noticed she seem to fade when she was around him and Dana, but he never said anything.

"I'm a real ass." Marv shrugged.

"I can't count how many times I hurt Laura in little ways; she always buried them and went on like nothing was wrong. But, I know now and now you know. I was lucky, Laura waited, but I can't say the same for Jenna."

"I don't know what to do," said Greg.

"Be honest or stop jerking her chain," said Marv. Greg nodded, Marv paid for their meals and they went back to work.

Going over to HR was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He waited till it was close to five and few people would be left in the office. HR was in their own glass enclosed section. He took a look around to find Jenna sitting a desk with her back to him. He took a breath and walked over to where Jenna was sitting.

"Jenna." She turned around, eyed him. She looked horrible, her eyes were pink, her hair was crimped from the braid she had it in earlier, and it seemed to make her face appear thinner and she seemed pale. She let out some noise of disgust and turned her back to him and kept on working.

"I'm really sorry about this morning." She reached over a turned on a radio and turned it up loud. Those who were still in HR started peeking around the cubicle walls to see what was going on. Greg could see he had really pushed her buttons and that repairing this would take a great deal of effort. He got down next to her ear and started talking so only she would hear.

"I acted like a dick this morning and…"

"Congrats, you win the award for 'Biggest understatement of the year.' Excuse me I'm working," she said loudly. Jenna kept typing and Greg could almost feel the distance between them growing larger by the second. He sat down the bag of Skittles and kept talking in her ear.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, but if you let me explain…"

"Go on, explain why you felt the need to treat me like third rate dog shit on what should have been a very happy day for me. If you can give me a good reason for why you acted like the world's biggest douche bag, I may consider forgiving you in the next ten years," said Jenna her voice cold and dead and her eyes not even leaving the screen.

"I'll be in the stairwell until 5:30, if you want to know why, meet me there, please"

"We'll see," she said in that same cold and dead voice. Greg nodded and left HR and went to wait for her.

5:29:30…the watch he was looking at was like a cruel reminder of everything. All the times he didn't notice her, all the times he did and pushed it away, all the time he spent questioning.

_She's not coming._

_She has too, she owes us that_

_What does she owe you, you made it quite clear that you don't care about her on several occasions. Now you expect her to come running, because it's what you want. God you really suck at the whole relationship thing. _

5:29:42

_I didn't mean to hurt her._

_Well you did, you did it a lot._

_I'm sorry_

5:29:55

_She's not coming_

_You lost her; you lost the most wonderful person you'll ever know._ All the time they spent together was starting to fill his head.

_That smirk she gave you when Barb found the frozen hole punch, The office drinking games, the time she helped change your tire, the Halloween when the office had it's costume party and Jenna dressed up like Barb and it won scariest costume, her singing Spice girls or anything else that popped into her head while on hold, the Valentine's day when you guys passed out Hello Kitty and Batman cards like grade school kids, The April's fools day when you guys didn't play a prank on Barb and it freaked her out all day, your birthday when she made the cake and got you the balloon that sang 'We will rock you', throwing her into the Pacific ocean, IHOP, Billy Idol ,and Pearl Jam, singing the Thanksgiving song when anyone mentioned turkey, cranberries or Thanksgiving, the scent of pine and Sister Hazel, asking for the cork and hugging his grandparents. That look of hurt when he told her to go away, the dead tone in her voice. _

5:32:15

She wasn't coming and something inside him wanted to sob. He got up from the step he was sitting on and was planning to stop by a liquor store and drink the weekend away. He got two steps down, when he heard a whizzing noise and felt something hard hit the back of his head. He almost fell down the stairs and was seeing stars, he could feel the knot rising.

"You're lucky, I was thinking about a stapler or a tape dispenser, but Laura said that bounce ball was rock hard," said Jenna. Greg picked up the fist size plastic ball that hit his head and gave her a look.

"Your grandfather told you not to piss my people off, we have good aim and like I said you're lucky it wasn't a larger object." She smoothed her skirt out and sat on the first step. Greg tossed her the ball and she put it in her purse. He came back up the stairs and sat next to her.

"Your also lucky, Laura talked to me. I was ready to go home after you left HR and leave your ass sitting here. But, Laura said that at least you were trying to apologize and that meant you realized that you acted like a douche bag and were trying to make up for it and that I should try to hear you out." She got a thing of peanut butter cups out of her purse.

"So what was it, evil twin, multiple personality who hates me, it's your time of the month. I'm really drawing a blank here, Greg. What you said this morning was really shitty; if you're pissed at me for something, at least have the decency to tell me what I did." Greg took the peanut butter cups and their hands brushed and that spark was there. Greg put the candy in his lunch box and looked at Jenna.

_It's never been like this with Dana, it's always been like this with Jenna. You just didn't did see it till now."_

"Dana and I broke up this morning…well she broke up with me." Jenna's jaw dropped and she was ready to go stomp a bitch.

"Why?"

"Because I have goals and I wanted to know if I got the chance to leave California would she come with me. She told me I wasn't worth leaving her life here for and that our relationship was a waste of time. So I'm a worthless loser and a waste of time."

"_Yeah we're going to go stomp a bitch this weekend,"_ thought Jenna. She was still really pissed with Greg, but he was her friend and he needed her right now. She scooted a little closer to him and took one of his hands.

"You are not a waste of time and you're not a worthless loser. When you're not PMS-ing on me you are the kindest, sweetest, most wonderful person I've ever met and if she can't see that than she's a waste of time and a loser." Greg would swear years later that when she said that, he felt his heart skip a beat.

_She's telling you without telling you that she still cares about you in that way. Do something, no more stalling._

Greg looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. She felt uncomfortable in his gaze, he was getting the look in his eyes that he had at the Christmas party, but something else was there too, something she knew would break her. She got up to walk away, when Greg stood up and grabbed her wrist and made her turn towards him and look him in the eyes.

_Why is running…ask her. If she wants us why does she always run away?_

"Greg?"

"Why do you always run away from me?"

"What?" He was starting to scare her and she tried to pull away, but his grip was firm and he started backing her in to a corner away from the stairs and the door.

"Not till you answer me. Why? Why do you always run away? I want to know why you ran away at the Christmas party? You wanted me too didn't you? I've had so many dreams about that night and what you do to me in those dreams…they turn me inside out and I want it even more. Do you still have that crush on me, Jenna I want to know now and I want the truth!"

"Yes!!! I've wanted you, do you have any clue how hard it is to pretend otherwise? To see you with that bitch and know she couldn't even come close to loving you the way I do." She let out something between a sob and a laugh.

"What I do to you in your dreams…I've woken up crying at night because I realized it was a dream and you weren't really there. Christmas! You wanted me than?! No you didn't, I felt you shaking and I saw your eyes, you were scared. That's why I ran, I keep running from you to save what little piece of me you don't have yet." Jenna was sobbing and trying to pry his hand off her. "Let me go Greg, please. This hurts."

"No, I'm not letting you run anymore." He lifted her face with his free hand and kissed her. She hesitated at first, but she soon caved into the need she had. He pinned her to the wall and was holding both hands above her head. He pushed himself closer to her, not leaving any space between them. The temperature seemed to go up the moment his body got closer to her. Her body was pumping off heat and she was moaning into his mouth. He let go of her hands and ran his hands over her, through her hair, he brushed away the tears he had caused, over her shoulders and down to her hips. He dug his fingers into her hips and pressed himself against her even harder. Her hands found his neck and she was pulling him in for more.

"_Now…we need her now!!!" _ screamed his body.

_"No…not here, she's better than that. She's waited so long for you, to be your lover and now is the time to show her that you love her,"_ said his heart. He broke the kiss and both of them were out of breath. She looked so broken, he wanted to cry.

"Why, why did you stop?" asked Jenna her whole body was shaking and Greg held her tight.

"I need you in so many ways right now and I knew if I didn't stop I was going to have you here." Jenna nodded and pushed him away slowly.

"My apartment is fifteen minutes away…do you?"

"God yes," he grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs. Jenna was grateful she still had thought and she grabbed Greg's stuff and her purse. Greg pulled her through the parking lot not caring who saw them.

"Where are my god-damn car keys?" he snapped. Jenna held up his lunch box.

"In here?" Greg snatched the box out of her hands and found the keys.

"_Thank you god,"_ they both thought and got in the car. Jenna barely got her seat belt on and Greg was peeling out the parking lot. Jenna simply dumped her purse out, not caring about things like her wallet or checkbook that ended up on the floor; she just wanted her damn apartment keys. Greg broke almost every speed limit law in California and got to the apartment in less than ten minutes. She found them in one of her side pockets and took Greg's hand; he took it and gave it a good squeeze. He speed into the apartment complex and parked with his brakes squealing. Once he parked, he leaned over to Jenna and kissed her hard again. She broke it and got out the car.

"Upstairs, not here," she told him, Greg barely remembered to turn the car off and ran after Jenna. She got the key in the lock and got the door opened and he was on her again.

"I've fought this for too damn long," he muttered sliding his hands down her back. Jenna got him in and shut the door and found herself with her back against the door and Greg in front of her sliding his hands up her shirt, kissing her the whole time and pressing hard against her. She felt him through the layers of clothing between them and knew she needed to make him understand something before it went any further.

"Slow down damn it." Jenna pushed him away carefully and looked at him and he looked as broken as she when he stopped kissing her.

"Oh Jen, please." She took a deep breath and took his hands and looked at him.

"I've wanted this and you for a long time…slow down please. I'm not here for you to get your frustration out; I'm not going to be used for amusement. I'm going to love you." She got him against the wall and pressed herself against him. "Did Dana ever love you? I don't think so." She started kissing his neck slowly and he felt his knees buckle. "She's fucked you plenty I imagine, but love you, no she didn't do that." Her hands slide under his shirt and he felt himself going under.

Jenna placed her hands on his waist and started kissing him slowly all the while leading him to her bedroom. "You've driven crazy for over a year now; I've had dreams about you, even before the Christmas party and I'll be damned if you rush this. I'm going to love you and it's going to be slow." She was taking off his shirt and tossing it on the floor. "It's going to be sweet, it's going to linger." Jenna was peeling off layers while she talked, her sweater, his undershirt, she kicked off her shoes. She stopped on the edge of her bedroom and pulled him into a kiss that turned him inside out and when she broke it she whispered into his ear.

"And you're going to love every second of it, I promise. How does that sound?"

"It sounds wonderful," he was surprised that he could still find thought to speak. "Good." She gave him a smile and her eyes were shining and pulled him into her bedroom.

They laid there afterwards and Greg wished he could find words to describe what he was feeling right now in this moment with Jenna curled up next to him wrapped in a sheet.

_Peace, relief, absolute bliss._

He was…relaxed, the kind of relaxed you feel after a nap or a hot shower. He knew it sounded lame, but he was the closest he could come to giving what just happened between them words. He was feeling warmth, not just the warmth from the bed or the warmth that was still between them, but something inside him felt warm. He looked down and smiled to himself. Jenna looked like she was sleeping and had put her head on his chest and had wrapped her free arm around his waist. Her hair had fallen in her eyes and Greg went to move it away. His fingertips had barely touched her when she smiled and looked at him.

"Hey."

"Hey," he brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. Jenna seemed to be blushing, which considering everything that had happened between them was almost comical to him.

"So?" Jenna asked.

"So what?"

"Do you feel weird about this…about us?" her voice was so serious he almost laughed. But, he knew what this really meant to her and he didn't.

"No, I don't feel weird about this at all. In fact, I feel really, really good about this. Do you feel weird?" Jenna smiled and she sat up a little and kissed him.

"That answer your question."

"Not really," she smiled and Greg realized that this smile was for him and him alone.

"You are a dork, but you're my dork now so I guess I can forgive you."

"Why did we wait so long?" asked Greg.

"You want the long answer or the short answer?" Jenna pressed herself against him and put her head back on his chest.

"Well I plan on being here awhile, so I'll take the long answer." Greg toyed with her hair in one hand and was holding her hand in his free hand. Dana was never one for pillow talk or cuddling afterward, so he intended to enjoy this for as long as possible.

"I was a coward, you were seeing someone and neither one of us could take a step forward and be honest because we're morons…so in short we're morons." Greg kissed her forehead again.

"That sounds about right." A silence fell between them; Greg realized that Jenna was the first person he enjoyed being quite with as much as he enjoyed talking to. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feel of her skin on his, the sound of her breathing; she was starting to doze off. He moved his hand down to her wrist to feel her pulse. It was slow and even, matching him.

"Thank you," he told her.

"For what," she muttered half asleep.

"Loving me."

"Anytime."

They woke back up a few hours later and Jenna realized she was starving, she didn't eat lunch and she had been too worked up about her interview to eat breakfast. The bedside clock read 8 p.m. and her stomach was screaming that it was time to eat now. She started looking for her pj's on the bedside floor. Greg smirked and pulled her close to him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Looking for clothing."

"Now why would you wanna put clothes on? I'll just have to take them off again." Jenna rolled over to face him and put her hands on his chest.

"I'm starving and cooking naked is bad. So I have to put something on."

"We can order in." Jenna started laughing.

"I can't answer the door naked, Greg. I promise to get naked again after we eat." Greg pulled her into a deep kiss and ran his hands down her back.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of kissing you," he told her.

"That's good, I plan on kissing you a lot," she got out of his grip and Greg groaned.

"Come back." Jenna threw a towel at him.

"We smell like sin and I'm going to take a shower. Would you like to join me?" Greg jumped out of bed and grabbed the towel.

"Lead the way."

It took some work for both of them to shower in Jenna's mini shower, but Greg had to admit it was worth every second. They needed a second shower when they were done and they stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out. They dried off and Jenna got into some pajama pants and a pull over sweatshirt and Greg was left trying to find his clothes that started at Jenna's front door and finished in her bedroom.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything else for you to wear," said Jenna looking at his rumbled clothes. Greg shrugged.

"I'll just have to do a drive of shame back to my place." Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"Because?" Greg wrapped both arms around her waist.

"Well I planned on being here all weekend and I while I love your cherry soap, but it's not me and I would like to get a change of clothes, maybe a pillow, because you hog yours. Unless you don't want me here, because you're expecting someone else." Jenna pulled him into one of those inside out kisses.

"And what was that for?" asked Greg.

"You can stay here as long as you want. I just wanted to make sure you had a reason to come back." Greg realized that she was still feeling insecure about this and he understood that after two years of waiting, she would have those issues.

"I have lots of reasons to come back and I'll be back soon, I promise." Jenna gave him a playful shove.

"Go get your pillow you big baby."

Greg grabbed some clothes and his bathroom kit. He remembered the pillow and was getting ready to call his parents to let them know he wouldn't be home this weekend, he would just tell them he was going to be at friend's house, he would tell them about the break-up and getting together with Jenna later. He reached for the phone when he heard a knock on the door. He had a feeling about who it was and it depressed him, but hopeful this would be the last time he had to deal with her. He opened the door and saw Dana standing in the doorway.

"Can I come in?"

"No, I'm leaving." He stepped out and locked the door behind him.

"I'm sorry about this morning…"

"Save it, you made yourself clear, we're done." Greg went to leave and she blocked his way.

"Baby, come on," she went to kiss him and Greg stepped back, he wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

"Don't, it's old. I'm leaving and you're holding me up." Dana really looked at him and she was taking in the overnight bag and his rumpled clothes. Her eyes narrowed and she seemed to be getting red in the face.

"Who is she?"

"None of your damn business now you have to go, because I'm tried of standing out here. Dana seemed to be thinking and pieces seemed to be falling into place for her and her face got even redder.

"I should have known you go crawling to her after I dumped your ass. So how long have you been fucking the office spic? Have you been fucking her behind my back? You have, haven't you?"

"No I didn't fuck her behind your back. We started doing that…about four hours ago. That's over ten hours after you told me that I was a lost cause and a waste of time. We're done and Jenna's waiting for me, so move." Dana stayed where she was and got in his face.

"I should have known she was a whore. I've seen the way she looked at you, should have known she go after the spoiled rich white boy. How much is Greg, can you afford her?"

"I've never hit anyone in my life, but you're going to push me there if you say one more word. Now, we're done and Jenna had nothing to do with it. This is my choice to be with her, now get out of my face. I'll pack your stuff up later on this week and take it to your job next week. I don't want to see you ever again, do you understand me?" Dana slapped him and stormed off. Greg touched his check and winced, he hoped it didn't leave a mark. He got in his car and headed back where he was wanted.

Jenna almost jumped when she heard her door click open. She was still trying to figure out what dream she was in.

_It has to be a dream, because it's too damn good to be true…we're going to wake up alone and find out that everything that happened was a dream._ Jenna walked into her living room and saw Greg shutting and locking the door. In one hand he held an overnight bag and pillow. In his other hand he held a bunch of long stemmed white roses and a bottle of Merlot. He dropped his bag and turned to see Jenna smiling from the kitchen. He held up the bottle and roses sheepishly.

"Got you something," he went into the kitchen and gave her the roses. Jenna blushed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I don't have anything to put them in."

"Got any empty jars?" Jenna nodded and went through the recycling until she found a sauce jar. She washed it out and cut the roses to fit inside. Greg came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I think you're the first person, with the expectation of my mom, that I got flowers for. Dana hated flowers.

"That's because she didn't know what was good for her. They look really silly in that jar."

"I don't care." He muttered in her ear and moved his hands under her sweatshirt to feel the skin on her sides and felt how warm and soft she was.

"I made some bruschetta." Jenna turned around to face him and found herself putting her hands under his shirt. They felt themselves starting to go under again. Greg moved his hands to her lower back and pulled her closer to him.

"Can we eat it later?" he asked. Jenna nodded and he found himself lost in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I made you wait," said Greg hoping that she understood what he really meant.

"You were worth it though," muttered Jenna before she took him into one those kisses that turned him inside out.

Later on that night, the two of them were picking up a trail of clothes that started in the kitchen and ended in the living room and Jenna teased him almost all weekend about how his boxers made a great lamp shade.

_Greg found himself walking through the hallway and he remembered the way it felt when she pulled him down the hall and into her bedroom. Where was she, wasn't she suppose to be here? Greg found himself opening a door at the end of the hallway and walked into her bedroom. Jenna looked like she was sleeping with her back to him and he saw himself sitting on the bed next to her. His self from almost eight years ago looked at him and frowned._

_"Why are you here? She's sleeping, you'll wake her up and than she be gone again. I don't want that." His past self looked at the sleeping form and smiled._

_"She was always so beautiful when she was sleeping. I never wanted to leave and I didn't want her to go."_

_"I didn't either," Greg told him, he couldn't help but feel a little weird talking to himself. His past self shook his head._

_"You don't get it…she back, but she not here. Why?" _

_"I can't let her back in."_

_"You shouldn't have shown her out. Why didn't you go to her when she sent that engagement notice? You should have been pounding on her door demanding an answer. She waited two years for you and suddenly she gets engaged after being away for six months…something wasn't right and you should have done something."_

_"She broke my heart."_

_"You broke her heart first…she needs your help…" His former self walked away from the bed and headed out the room. "She's strong, but she can't prove that she didn't kill that woman, you can though. And you need to before you lose her for good." He watched himself walk out the room and Greg found his attention drawn to the sleeping form on the bed, something about it seemed really off. He went to touch her shoulder, she felt cold. Greg rolled her over and saw a bruise on the side of her face and a gun shot blow to her left temple, her green eyes stared at him with light or warmth. _

Greg sat up in bed and was gasping for air and shaking.

_What the hell was that?!?!?!?!_ One hell of a nightmare, god this case was screwing with his mind in ways he didn't think was possible. He looked at the clock on the bedside and was slightly relived that he only had ten minutes to go before the alarm was going to go off anyway. He turned it off and headed for the shower. He needed to close this case and fast it was wearing on him being near her. Eight years wasn't long enough to get rid of the memories or the feelings.

_"…she can't prove that she didn't kill that woman, you can though. And you need to before you lose her for good."_ Greg was really freaked out about the dead Jenna in his dream, yeah he wanted away from her, but her being dead was a little extreme. He finished his shower and started to get ready for work and he couldn't shake the feeling that something really horrible could happen to her if he didn't step up his efforts on this case.

_She hurt me a lot, but I never want to see her hurt in anyway, especially not dead._ His grandmother told him when he was growing up that he inherited her ability to see pieces of the future and when he got older he sometimes thought she was screwing with him, but their were times when he would know something that he shouldn't have, like when he was twelve and refused to go to a party with his parents, because he knew that a boy named Tom would make fun of his braces. Greg was right and Tom picked on him all night; however Greg had never met Tom or even heard about him till the party. Greg really bought Nana's belief in his sixth sense after that night. He hoped that deep down that dream wasn't his sixth sense kicking in.

_Because tell yourself what you want, we know better and we know you still love her._ And Greg had to agree with the little voice he hadn't heard in years.

love it, hate, review it please.

Thanks to those who left reviews. -


	16. Letting go

Letting Go

Vegas 2005

Greg walked into the lab and spotted Nick in the break room. Greg realized that he had been a little more than an ass the last time they spoke and decided to owe up to it.

"Hey," said Greg getting a cup of coffee. Nick nodded and went back to the newspaper.

"If I told you I felt like a total jackass after our hissy fit last night, would that make things better?" asked Greg. Nick lowered the paper.

"Ah Greggo, you know I can't stay mad at you, especially considering all the years you rushed my DNA samples. I shouldn't have spilled to Cat and Sara, you ask me to keep it private and I blew it. So we good?"

"Yeah we're good. Any thing from DNA and the crystals yet?" Nick shook his head.

"Wendy is backlogged with some drug bust that Cat and Warrick were working, she promised she get to it ASAP. Mandy is also taking her sweet time reprinting our pin, damn drug deals and the mess they leave behind." Greg sat down to finish his coffee before going to pester and see if Wendy could step it up a little, when Sara walked in and looked at little grim.

"Just the duo I was looking for, Grissom wants to see both you in his office, now."

"About?" asked Nick even though they both had an idea.

"The bakery case…brace yourselves, Brass is with him." Sara left to check her other cases and Nick shared a look with Greg.

"Do you think he'll give us one last meal?" Greg chugged his coffee and threw the paper cup in the trash.

"Let's just get it over with."

Nick and Greg sat down opposite of Grissom's desk and Brass shut the door. Grissom looked grim and Brass looked the way he always did.

"So any news on the case?" asked Brass. Greg just kept his mouth shut, he had a good feeling now about where this was going and he didn't like it.

"Still waiting for results, lab is backlogged," said Nick. Grissom raised an eyebrow and pulled out Mandy's report.

"Care to explain this?"

"We thought…" started Nick. Brass cut him off.

"You have prints on a murder weapon and didn't share the information with your supervisor and than, without telling your supervisor or anyone else on the case, you not only waste time rerunning the prints, you re-question the woman's whose prints are on the weapon. And this is because she and Sanders had a fling a few years back. Unless lab rat gossip has failed me" Greg tried to keep his face expressionless and failed under Grissom's stare

"Do you need to recuse yourself from this case? If it's affecting your ability to remain fair and let the evidence make up your mind, than say so," said Grissom.

"No, I'm fine working this case," said Greg. Grissom remained blank and Brass spoke up again.

"Good, because we're bring her in for questioning and possible charging her with murder depending on what DNA gives us."

"Wait hold up…just for some prints on a pin in her bakery. A good defense lawyer is going to tear that up," said Nick.

"Hopeful her lawyer can explain the two hour time gap in her alibi. The alarm has her leaving at midnight; her neighbors peg her coming home around two in the morning. That gives her a large chunk of time where she could have killed our victim, got rid of the evidence and pretended like nothing ever happened."

"She didn't do this," said Greg.

"Do I need to recuse you?" asked Grissom.

"Hear me out, she's worked her whole life for that bakery and she wouldn't do something that would ruin it, not after all the work she put in." Grissom nodded.

"You knew her Greg, you don't know her now. If the evidence points us another way, we'll follow it, but right now all roads lead to her." Greg sighed and nodded.

"I'm going to bring her in. Grissom can you and Greg come with me to search the bakery and her car. Nick can you go with Sara to search her house?" asked Brass.

"Yes sir," said Nick defeated and went to find Sara. Greg followed Grissom and Brass to a car and headed back to the bakery.

It was about eleven and the bakery was closed, but Lissa and another woman were cleaning the front of the shop and were listening to some 3 Doors Down loudly. Brass had to pound on the door to be let in.

"Can we help you?" asked Lissa after opening the door.

"Is Miss. Bianchi in?" asked Brass.

"She's in the kitchen…wait a minute," said Lissa as Brass and Grissom walked past her. Greg followed behind them. The music was even louder in the kitchen and Greg spotted Jenna the second he walked in and almost smiled. She and the other workers hadn't noticed Brass and Grissom in the kitchen and Jenna was bobbing her head to the music, singing and layering a cake.

_In my head there's only you now  
This world falls on me  
In this world there's real and make believe  
And this seems real to me_

_You love me but you don't know who I am  
I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand  
And you love me but you don't know who I am  
So let me go  
Let me go_

_I dream ahead to what I hope for  
And I turn my back on loving you…_

Grissom stopped the music and the whole kitchen looked up. Jenna frowned and wiped her hands on an apron.

"Can I help you?" Brass handed her the warrant.

"We have a warrant to search your business, your car and your home." Jenna ripped it open and started reading it, her face getting paler by the second.

"This is bullshit, I've cooperated with everything you've wanted so far and now it's getting old. My home! Why? You think I did this? Oh hell no!" Jenna was pissed and she took off her apron and want into full fledged rant mood.

"What kind of a moron kills someone in their own business? I mean really who does that? I didn't kill her, I didn't like her, but that's a piss poor reason to suspect me."

"It's just we have a few more questions that need answered, if you would come with us downtown," said Grissom not batting an eye.

"Are you arresting me?" asked Jenna.

"We can, if you keep screaming and make our jobs harder," said Brass. Jenna glared at him and turned to Ofilia.

"Call Willis for me and have him meet me downtown. Tell him that I have a harassment suit lining up," she glared at Greg and followed Brass out of the kitchen. Greg saw it out the corner of his eye. The necklace Jenna was wearing. A small jade charm on a silver chain, he most ran after her to make sure he really saw what he saw.

_You gave her that…right before everything blew up in your face. _

Stanford, California

May-1998

Jenna was helping him pack up the last of the boxes that would go with him to San Francisco. Greg paused in the doorway to watch her; she had braided her hair back and was wearing a pair of shorts and a black halter top. He smiled and thought back on the last few weeks they had spent together. It was one of the greatest feelings he had in a long time.

They had tried to keep their relationship under wraps from the office for awhile. That failed about two weeks into their relationship when Jenna kept teasing him, by leaning back in her chair and stretching, causing her shirt to go up, smiling at him the whole time. Greg couldn't stand it anymore and when lunch came, they took a full hour at her apartment. No would have noticed anything if he had taken five seconds to make sure his shirt was buttoned right. The next morning, Laura placed disclosure forms on their desks with a post-it smiley face. Jenna and Greg spent morning break filling them out when they were finished Jenna took them back to Laura skipping.

_Why did I wait so long…_

Jenna got to meet his parents a few weeks ago when they came up here to see him graduate. His parents were just happy to finally meet the girl their son had carried on about over the phone and that his grandparents had been so pleased with. Greg was surprised that his parents took to her so fast, most girls that he had dated, were not to their liking and they had barely tolerated Dana. Jenna was the first girl to meet his parents and not beg for a way out ten minutes later.

"_I'm sorry about the inquisition," he told her later on that night when his parents went to back to their hotel and he and Jenna were alone at his place. Jenna shrugged and put her head on his shoulder._

"_Oh just wait, you have my mother and older brother to deal with…I'm sure my godparents will sit in too." _

"_You have godparents?"_

"_My godfather is nowhere near as cool as the movies show them being." _

"_Damn it!" Jenna laughed. _

"_God you are a dork." She went to put the dishes away from dinner and he followed her. _

"_They really like you." Jenna shook her head._

"_They'll change their minds when they see how crazy my family is." She finished the dishes and he took her hand. _

"_No they won't, they know how much you mean to me." It was still cute to see that he could make her blush like that._

"_You are a smooth talker, you know that." She gave him a hug and he put his head on top of hers. _

"_I love you." She took a step back and her eyes were wide, it was the first time he told that he loved her, outside of the bedroom. He had told her that he loved more than a dozen times when they were making love and he felt like he was drowning and those were the only words he could find. But, this was different he really meant it and it was more than physically being in love with her, this feeling took him over. How had she been able to stay quite all that time and feel this way and not scream? _

"_Greg," He kissed her softly, he just wanted her know how he felt. When he broke away from away from her, he wanted her to know something else. _

"_I want you to come to San Francisco with me?" Her eyes got even wider._

"_I'm sorry, I didn't hear you right? You what?"_

"_Take your summer break and come with me to San Francisco." _

"_I…were would I stay? I don't have a job there, I would have to come back here in the fall and get a whole new place to stay. I need to sit down." Jenna sat down, she seemed shocked, surprised that he asked her to come. Unlike Dana's reaction, he knew that she was happy to be asked. He sat down next to her and held her hands._

"_Well to answer your first question about living there, you would live with me." _

"_Whoa, you want to live with me. Have you met me, I'm a neat freak, I snore, I drool in sleep, and I'm sure you'll find all sorts of things that will drive you insane by the time July comes. Are you drunk?" _

"_Well I was well aware of your first three faults and have coped with them, I think I can cope with the others that pop up. No I'm not drunk and San Francisco is big place and I'm sure you could easily find a job their, in fact I got the help wanted section of the paper there when I went to get my apartment lease." he was grinning at her and she seemed to be absorbing what he was telling her._

"_We just started dating…" he felt his smile slip, she was scared and he wanted to stop whatever negative thought was going through her head. _

"_I've known you for almost two years now, you've been the greatest friend I've ever had and I'll really miss you when I go and this seemed like the best way to stay together. If you feel like this is going too fast.." she cut him off right there_

"_I wanna go." He blinked._

"_Really."_

"_Yeah, I wanna go with you." He kissed her again and they soon found themselves lost in each other on the living room floor and he told her that he loved the whole time she was under him, begging him to tell her again that he did. _

He came up behind her and placed his hands on her hips and started kissing her neck. Jenna started to laugh and pushed him away.

"I can't help you pack with you doing that."

"You're no fun," whined Greg. Jenna turned around and smiled at him.

"I know I'm such a bitch. I'm helping you pack and won't let you nibble on me. God I'm a horrible girlfriend, you should dump me." Jenna went back to the boxes and Greg wrapped his arms around her.

"Now if I do that, I won't be able to give you your present." He pulled a small box out from a bag he was carrying. Jenna turned around and grinned.

"Oh gimmie," she started to reach for it, but Greg had the height advantage and held it above his head.

"Tell me you love me." Jenna pouted.

"Do I have to?" Greg mocked frowned.

"Well I'm sure my new girlfriend will like this," he turned to walk out of the room and Jenna jumped on his back.

"God you are such a baby…you know I love you." She started kissing the spot on the back of his neck that always got him and Greg dropped her on the sofa. She shook her head. "I thought I was no fun." Greg sat down next to her and handed her the box.

"You can have your present I suppose, you gift whore," she played smacked him.

"You're the one begging for love and bribing me with gifts, but I'm the whore…at least I'm getting paid." Jenna grinned and realized that Greg was the only person who could pretend call her a whore, outside of her female friends in Vegas, and she wasn't pissed. She opened the box and her jaw dropped.

"Oh my god." She took the necklace with the jade charm out of it's box . "It's…wow." Greg took it out her hand and put it on her.

"I saw it, when I went to San Francisco to sign the lease. I couldn't help but think, it how much you would like. You like it right?"

"It's really pretty," Jenna turned around. "Thank you." Greg touched the charm that was close to her heart.

"It matches your eyes." Jenna went to kiss him when someone started knocking at the door. He groaned when Jenna pulled away.

"Do you want me to get it?" she asked.

"Could you kill them for interrupting?" Jenna sighed.

"Only if you'll help me get rid of the body." She left the living room and went into the hallway and opened the door. Greg went to finish the box left by Jenna when he heard her shouting.

"What the hell do you want?!" The voice he heard next was someone he hoped was gone forever.

"I wanna talk to Greg, now move." Dana was screaming.

"Go to hell," Greg started down the hallway and saw Jenna trying to shut the door, but Dana was in the way.

"I NEED TO TALK TO GREG!!!!"

"WELL I NEED YOU TO GO TO HELL!" Jenna was close to giving Dana the beat down she had wanted to since day one. Greg got to the door and Dana was waving a piece of paper.

"He needs to see this, it has nothing to do with you, you fucking bitch."

"Yeah that's right I'm a fucking bitch, who's giving you ten seconds to clear off this doorway." Greg took Jenna shoulder.

"She's not worth it, Jen. Dana go away." Dana shoved the paper at his chest.

"No I'm not going anyway, you need to know," Dana seemed near tears and even Jenna felt a twinge of pity for her. Greg took the paper and skimmed through it and felt his world shift.

_Close your eyes and when you open them this won't be here, Dana won't be here. It will be you and Jenna and the feel of her skin on yours._ Greg opened and closed his eyes again and nothing had changed, Dana was here, the paper still in his hands and Jenna staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"Are you sure?" he asked when thought returned to him.

"That's the doctor's test results right there." Jenna had a feeling that she wasn't going to like were this was going.

"What's going on?" asked Jenna. She took the paper out of Greg's hands and read it. She felt all the blood leave her body and she felt cold, she blinked and read it again.

"How," was all Jenna could get out when she finished reading it a third time. Dana snatched it out of her hands.

"How do you think? Now I need to talk with Greg about this, without you here," snapped Dana. Jenna blinked and looked at Greg, wanting him to say something, anything to her.

"Greg," she reached out to touch him.

"She's right, Jen could you…this is between us," it pained him to say that to her, and the look in her eyes pained him even more. Jenna went back down the hallway and got her purse and hated the feeling she got when her back was to Dana as she walked out the door and heard it slam behind her.

"How….when are you due?" asked Greg sitting down in a chair trying to get his world back in order."

"They pegged it for around November. You know this isn't what I had planned for my life either," snapped Dana.

"Don't yell at me right now…you can't just come back here tell me you're pregnant and expect me to think rationally about anything." Dana sat down in a chair across from him.

"I'm sorry."

"I thought, what the hell, we were careful for this reason," muttered Greg.

"Well either the condom broke or someone fell asleep at quality control when my pills were going through. Like I said this wasn't what I had planned for my life either," said Dana.

"I…what do you want to do?"

"I don't know I'm not getting rid of it though."

"I wasn't asking you too. God what kind of asshole do you think me for?" Dana nodded.

"You're not an asshole, I don't know Greg. I don't have a clue what I'm going to do?" Dana started crying. Greg felt pity for her; he was partially responsible for this mess. He got up and sat down next to her and gave her a hug.

"Don't cry please. Just tell me what you want to do and I try to help you."

"I can't do this alone."

"I didn't expect you too, it's mine too." Dana looked him in the eye.

"I want you back."

"Dana…"

"Greg you asked me what I wanted and that's what I want, I want you back to help me take care of this baby."

_NO…What about Jenna…you can't do this to her._ It was like Dana could read his mind.

"I'm going to lay my cards on the table. I'm pregnant with your child, she's not. You choose her over me and your child and I will make sure you never see the baby. I will make sure that it knows that its father picked his fling over his child and that it hates you."

"That's not even fair," said Greg.

"It's your choice now," said Dana getting up and leaving him their alone.

_God what a bitch…it's my kid too…she can't do that to me. _

_You know she will it's not fair to make your kid suffer. _

_But…_

_You know what you need to do, it's going to hurt you, it's going to hurt Jenna, but it's the right thing to do. _

Jenna walked for about a mile and than realized she had her purse and bus fare. She caught a bus and went back to her place. She was almost finished packing her stuff, her life was in boxes waiting to go to San Francisco.

_We're not going now._ Jenna fell to the floor and started to sob, something in her heart told her that she wasn't going and that she wasn't going to be with Greg anymore.

_We should have known it was a dream; it was too good to be true._ Jenna wiped her eyes and looked around. She had told the managers she would be out by next week; she would be homeless in less than five days.

_I wanna go home_. She wanted her mother, she hadn't been home since Christmas and she hadn't planned on coming home this summer and her mother sounded sad. But, when Jenna had told her why and how happy she was, her mother had understood. Hopefully she would understand this too. Jenna got up and was thankful she hadn't disconnected her phone. She curled up in the corner and listened to the ringing on the other end.

"Torta dei dolci, this is Clarissa, how can I help you?"

"Mom…"

"Jenna, is that you? What's wrong miele, have you been crying?" Jenna spilled everything to her mother in between sobs.

"He's going to break up with me and it hurts so much….I…can I come home, please. I can't be here anymore."

"Oh miele, you don't have to ask to come home. You're my daughter and you're welcome home anytime. Just let me know when you're coming in so I can have your room ready."

"Thank you." Jenna heard someone pounding on her door.

"Jen, Jen let me in," Greg was yelling though her door.

"I'll see you next week mom."

"I love sweetheart." Jenna hung up the phone and unchained the door. Greg was standing their and he looked like he had ran the whole way here. He noticed the phone in her hand.

"Who were you talking too?"

"My mom, I'm going home…to Vegas."

"But, Jen we…"  
"I'm not going with you now, not with Dana being pregnant. You're not going to be with me anymore either are you," Greg took her in his arms and let her cry.

"Jen…I'm sorry."

Writer's notes-I don't feel so bad slacking off and writing this, due to the fact that my group project people are slacking off and not working…so far I have half the project done…so I'm allowed to play. Sorry this is a short chapter, the next one is much longer

Plus I have a cold and can't breathcan't sleep, so I started writing again. I hope that people are enjoying the story so far.

Oh miele means honey in Italian.

Next Chapter-We knew her from somewhere

The team gives Greg pieces of info about Jenna.

Love it, hate it, review it please…I need to now if I'm doing something right.


	17. I knew her from somewhere

I knew her from somewhere

Stanford California

May-1998

"You know you're missing your own going away party," said Greg. Jenna was sitting on a bench outside of the office. She shrugged.

"So are you, I don't think they'll notice us missing anyway. They'll probably have more fun with us gone," she muttered bitterly.

He had noticed that they seemed like two dead spots at the party, it had been a week since he ended things with Jenna and it had been the week from hell. They had tried to keep the end of things to themselves, but everyone seemed to notice how quite and strained it was between them. When Laura, Mary and Barb caught Jenna crying in the bathroom, they knew, but kept it to themselves. Mitch was hell bent on holding them a good bye party anyway and Greg and Jenna let him, though their mood to party was gone to say the least. He sat down next to her and sighed, she was wearing the blue silk dress from Marv and Laura's wedding and was wearing her hair in a low bun and the jade charm he gave her. He could feel it, that distant between them and he hated it, while they promised to stay in touch, it wasn't the same as being together. He wished he could say something to bridge that growing gap between them.

"Jen…" She turned and kissed him without warning, it was one of those kisses that made him weak in the knees and made him want to lose control. His hands found her and he wasn't sure it was the dress he was touching or her. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him in for more, allowing his tongue into her mouth, Greg felt like the whole week had just been one giant nightmare and this was real. Him, her, this moment, he didn't want it to end. She broke the kiss, ran her hands down his chest she took his hands and smiled.

"I had to fight that all night," she told him quietly.

"I know." Jenna's smile became even brighter, her eyes were bright like stars and she went to kiss him again.

_Stop this…you're making it worse!_ He pulled away from her and shook his head.

"I can't…" he saw the look in her eyes; it was the final light going out. He had taken all the warmth and life from them.

"Are you sure this is what you really want?" He couldn't answer her with words, they would betray him.

_No I want you…I should have wanted you from the start, but I was a dumbass. I can't be with you though; I have to take care of what's going to be my child. I can't run from that. I'm sorry; you don't know how sorry I am._ Instead he nodded yes to her question.

"Alright." She looked at their hands and let go of his hands. She reached up to the necklace and took it off. "This is yours." She went to hand it to him and he shook his head no.

"That's yours. I got for you. Please keep it, it was from me as your friend" Jenna nodded and put it back on. She stood up.

"I'm gonna go now. I have to finish packing some stuff, before I get my plane home."

"I can drive you," said Greg. He just wanted one more moment with her, just one. Jenna shook her head.

"You know, when I ended it with Roberto, he asked me to leave him alone, because the longer he looked at me the more he wanted to cry. I understand how he felt now." She gave him one last hug, and told him. "Be happy Greg," She ended their hug and started the walk home, leaving him in the parking lot. He sat down on the bench and hoped that someday she would be happy too.

_Vegas 2005 _

Jenna was fuming and fiddling with her necklace; she was looking forward to taking it off and shoving down Greg's throat if given the opportunity. It was cold and overly bright in the room they had her in for questioning. She was only wearing a tank top and jeans, it was to hot to wear anything else in the kitchen, she wished she would have asked Willis to bring her a sweater, she was freezing.

Frank Willis, her father's best friend, her godfather and her lawyer was sitting next to her, looking over the papers given to him by Brass and was frowning as he read them.

"This is absurd, Jenna they don't have anything to prove you did it. That's your rolling pin, of course your prints are on it…but where were you doing those two hours?"

"One of my girls needed my help and that's all I'm going to tell you."

"They can't make me tell them anything."

"I told her I wasn't going to tell anyone, I keep my word, you know that."

"Stubborn, just like your father, I'm going to try to get you out of here as soon as possible."

"Thank you, that holding cell makes my skin crawl and it smells like piss," Jenna took a sip of the water that the LVPD was kind to give her after locking her in a cell for over five hours with the prostitutes and drug addicts of Vegas, plus they took her shoes, something about her shoelaces and how they could be used as a weapon. They let her keep her necklace and belly button ring, because they were harmless. However, she had to hide the necklace inside her jeans pocket after one of the crazies made a grab for it.

_Yeah we're going to shove it down his throat and throw him shoeless in the Cell of Piss with the scum of Las Vegas._ A door opened and Brass walked in.

"I see you've lawyer-up Miss. Bianchi."

"I'm Jenna's godfather; the fact that I'm a lawyer has nothing to do with why we're here. We're here because your CSI's are harassing my client and you're trying to pin a murder on her with flimsy evidence at best. No judge or D.A will take this case to trial. Give me something placing her there, other prints on a pin that belong to her and her bakery."

_Damn he's good_.

"Well we have her prints on the murder weapon and two uncounted for hours from you're client. Miss. Bianchi, tell me why you shouldn't be looking at 35 to life."

"I didn't do it, that's why," said Jenna.

"We've already been over the prints, repeatedly. Those two hours, a mistake on my client's behalf. She works a lot of hours and lost track of time. You're willing to waste taxpayer's time and money along with sending an innocent woman to state prison because she lost track of time."

"The alarm your client set was for midnight. She didn't come home till almost 2 a.m. That's a little more than losing track of time." Wills leaned over and whispered something to Jenna. She muttered something and shook her head no.

"I didn't do it." Brass shrugged.

"Here's what I think happened, you get ready to leave, and you set the alarm, head down stairs and you hear something in the kitchen. You go to see what it is and you see the crazy lady who slapped you in front of your employees and in your own business and decide to get even. Jenna's jaw dropped.

"You know I've heard TV cops cook up crap like this, but hearing it in person sounds even more far fetched. Willis I wanna go home," said Jenna.

"Afraid I can't let you go yet," said Brass.

"Why not," snapped Jenna. Willis put a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down." She turned to him.

"This is crap. Why the hell would I kill someone in my own kitchen? It's like burning your own house down with you in it." She was near tears. "I've worked so hard to make the life I have and to think that I would throw it away for someone who bitch slapped me? No! I didn't do this."

"Just tell me where you were between midnight and 2 a.m.?" Jenna looked at Willis.

"It will ruin her life," she muttered.

"Sweetheart, I'm worried about yours right now. Just tell him." Jenna sighed.

"One my girls needed my help and that's all I'm saying." Brass nodded.

"Well I hope she thanks you by visiting you every week." Brass motioned to the other officers to take Jenna back to the holding cell.

"Willis, could you call my mom?"

"Already did, she's trying to get a flight here."

"I didn't do this, I swear. But, I can't tell you." Willis nodded and the officers started leading Jenna back.

"I hope your DNA techs come back with something good, otherwise you have nothing on her," said Willis picking up the papers and leaving. Brass sighed; years of dealing with criminals had helped him figure out when people were screwing with him and if they were guilty. Jenna Bianchi didn't do it, but she was covering for something. He decided to go get some breakfast and go bug DNA to see if they had anything yet.

……………………………………………………………………………..

"Nice house," said Nick walking into Jenna's living room.

"I thought about buying one, but considering all the hours we work, I wouldn't have time to enjoy it or keep it up," said Sara putting down her kit. Nick turned on the lights and looked around.

"Where to you want to start?" asked Nick.

"Well, if she didn't clean up at the bakery, she would have been a bloody mess…bathroom," said Sara.

"I'll check the bedroom; see if she left her clothes there." It took them a few minutes to get the layout of the house. Jenna's bedroom and bathroom were upstairs. Sara checked the sink, tub, and drains for blood and didn't find any.

_She would have to shower here, there is no shower at the bakery. Unless she went somewhere else?_ Making a mental note about that, she went into the bedroom and saw Nick poking through a jewelry box.

"No rings, no bracelets, nothing with crystals here," said Nick.

"If you worked in a bakery, would you wear anything on your hands or wrist?" asked Sara.

"She used to wear an engagement ring," said Nick.

"That's different. She doesn't strike me as a pink crystal girl, lots of necklaces, earrings and belly button rings though. I was never into piercing, never had the figure for these" said Sara picking up one of the belly rings. She sat it down and started to look through the dirty clothes. Nick went over to the closet to see if maybe the clothes had been wash and dried.

"I wonder how?" he muttered to himself.

"You wonder how what?" asked Sara, noting that most of the clothes were covered in flour and frosting.

"I wonder how her and Greggo ended up dating. I mean, they strike me as total opposites. Greg's…well Greg and well with the expectation of her Hodges's prank, she strikes me as a very serious person," said Nick. Sara looked at him.

"Girls with belly rings aren't that serious." Nick started to look in the top of the closet.

"Well she has a damn good head on her shoulders, she's signed to at least three major casinos as their in house provider of baked goodies and over half the chapels in Vegas have her on call, she owns two bakeries and brought in more last year than you I make combined."

"Well she found the market and is making use of it, kudos to her. If I had known there was money in cakes, I would have followed." Sara put the clothes back in the hamper. Nothing on them suggested murder, unless flour was the victim. Nick went to move something in the closet when a box fell out, spilling some of it's contents on the floor.

"Way to go," said Sara and she starting picking up the contents. Mostly letters, she noticed the address on one of them and paused.

"Sorry," Nick went to help her pick up the stuff and Sara stopped him.

"Am I reading this address right?" asked Sara. Nick took it from her and read.

Greg Sanders

Apt 271, Building D

San Francisco, California 94116

"These are for Greg, all of these are for Greg," said Nick picking up another couple of letters. He noticed 'return to sender' was written on all of them.

"That's not Greg's handwriting," said Sara.

"What?" Sara frowned.

"After years of looking over Greg's notes in DNA and trying to figure out his chicken starch, I know his handwriting. This return to sender is far to neat to be him. Someone else sent these back."

"Wait, Greg told me that Jenna stopped writing him. But, it's pretty clear that she didn't or we wouldn't be staring at these letters. I taking these back to Greg," said Nick grabbing a letter with the earliest date off the stack.

"You can't do that, that's not what we came here for. The fact that we even took time to look at these…"

"I won't tell, if you won't tell, besides these were meant for Greg," said Nick giving Sara a small smile.

"I had nothing to do with this, you understand."

"Yes." Sara picked the box back up and put it back in the closet. They looked over the rest of the house for five hours and didn't find anything to tie Jenna to the murder of Linda Stesiak. They got in the SUV and started the drive back.

"Why do you think she kept them?" asked Sara.

"My grandmother had a box of all the stuff her and my grandfather shared. She told me there are things the heart just can't let go of."

"I guess she couldn't let go of Greg."

…………………………………………………………….

Three hours of searching the bakery top to bottom had yielded nothing and now Greg was waiting for the car to come into the garage.

"Jenna had her car taken in this morning, the brakes were acting funny. I drove her in. Do you want to check my car too?" snapped Ofilia as they searched Jenna's office. Grissom told her it wouldn't be necessary and that it would be best it the staff left for the night. Ofilia sent the other woman home, but stayed there almost the whole time they were searching answering any question Grissom would ask her. Greg was happy when in hour two Grissom told her to go home that they would lock up. She threw one more nasty look at Greg and left.

"She doesn't like you very much," said Grissom. Greg shrugged and kept looking through Jenna's desk. It felt a little more than weird to be searching through the desk of someone you once loved, trying to find evidence of their involvement in a murder.

"I normally don't pry into other people's lives, but considering we're investigating her, what was Jenna like? I can normally read people like a book; however, I haven't been able to read her, she's a challenge. Give me some insight." Greg looked at Grissom.

"Are you screwing with me?" Grissom put down the books he was moving.

"No I'm not, I would like to understand the person you put your self respect and job on the line for." Greg shrugged.

"She was funny, caring; smart…she knew how to keep me on my toes. I really liked her." Greg went back to the desk and Grissom spoke up again.

"You loved her didn't you? That's why you want to prove she didn't do this."

"It just…I knew her, she was my best friend and I know she couldn't have done this." Grissom nodded and they worked in silence for the rest of the time.

The car came in a little before four a.m. the guys who had to tow it here weren't happy, but Greg was happy that he had something to do. The car was clean; no surprise considering it was Jenna's car. Nothing to indicate that she had recently gotten rid of blood stains or vacuumed the car. Greg found a cd case in the side door and couldn't help but flip through it. Flogging Molly,

_And she told me I had pissy white boy music_

Alicia Keys, a mix cd of the 80's, Selena

_Only Jenna could mix pissy Irish rock, R&B and happy Spanish pop in the same cd case._ The car took over an hour, but nothing in it to suggest that a person covered in blood or that anything bloody had been in the car. Greg sighed and went to go change clothes and poke Wendy to see if DNA had anything for him yet.

"I'm trying…god first Nick, than Brass, now you. I have a cart full from a drug bust that I have the Under sheriff breathing down my neck about…I'm really trying!" said Wendy.

"I'll buy you dinner if you step my DNA up front." Wendy sighed.

"I was going to move it up front anyway considering it may clear the person who owned Hodges in so many ways. Give me at least twelve hours and you'll have your answers, sorry about the wait, but you of all people should know the hell I'm in," said Wendy.

"I know and you're a peach for doing this for me."

"I hope she's worth the hassle Sanders."

_She's worth it. _

Greg was sitting in the break room with his eyes closed trying to figure out how one early morning rollout could screw up his life this badly when Nick came charging in.

"Greg you have to see this."

"Unless it a one way plane ticket to Hawaii, Mandy's second report or Wendy's DNA profile I don't want to see anything other than the back of my own eyelids. Nick smacked on the head with a piece of paper.

"Stop being pissy, we've talked about this. I have something that maybe better than all three of those things." Greg sighed and opened his eyes, Nick handed him a letter with his address from San Francisco on it in Jenna's handwriting. His jaw dropped.

"Where did you get this?" Nick leaned in.

"I found it in Jenna's house, in her closet. She had them in a box with a couple of other letters addressed to you, along with 'return to sender' written on all of them. You told me she stopped writing you." Greg looked at and shook his head,

"I've never even seen these." He took in the return to sender handwriting and frowned. "Dana…fucking bitch." Greg fell back in the chair defeated. "If I wasn't getting her letters, maybe she wasn't getting mine?"

"Who knows, but she didn't give up on you, that much is clear. Just don't tell her or anyone where that came from. It could be considered improper seizing of evidence or any other fancy term for stealing that can be used. Got any other cases?"

"Not yet…it's been slow tonight. I've been going over Jenna's car and the bakery. We didn't find anything."

"Here house is clean also. Look, go and sit in your car and read this and figure out what you want to do. I'll page you if Grissom or someone else comes looking for you," said Nick.

"Thanks man."

"What can I say, I like playing cupid." Greg rolled his eyes and headed out.

He got in the car and shut the door and stared at the letter. He couldn't open it; it was silly it was meant for him after all, even with all the years that had passed. Why had she kept them? Greg wasn't in the mood to try to understand woman and their logic and looked at the post mark: November 15 1998.

_Two weeks before the engagement announcement came._ He couldn't wait anymore and ripped the envelope open. The paper was thick and he could see that her hand had been shaking while she wrote him; the ink had smudged in places. He couldn't tell if it was from time or had she been crying when she wrote him this. He started reading.

_Dearest Greg,_

_This will be the last time I write you, unless I get something from you that tells me I should do something else. I hope this gets to you before the news of my engagement does. That's right, I'm getting married. I realized that I can't wait any longer for a person who isn't their anymore._

_Let me back up, god even writing to you makes me lose all thought. Over the past few months, I've been alone; I've been going through the motions of living and not really feeling anything. Part of that I can tie to my mother's illness. It's been hard to see the woman who raised me and was the strongest person I knew crumble before my eyes. Taking care of her has been hard and it's something that has pushed me harder than I thought it would. _

_Frankie and the other members of my family have tried to help, but at the end of the day, it me who fights with the doctors to make sure she being taken care of, me fighting with the insurance company to pay for another round of chemo or whatever treatment the doctors says she needs, me who holds her hand and singing to her when she crying in her sleep from all the pain. At the end of the day, there's no one to hold my hand and let me cry and while I knew you couldn't be here for me physical, I hoped that you would be there for me, even if it was in a letter or a phone call. However, months have gone by and it's been nothing from you, no letters, no calls, just silence. _

_Another reason that I've stop feeling was because of you. I let you have so much of me; I didn't realize that you had all of me, until there was nothing left. Granted, I shouldn't have given away so easily, but it was you and you had it before I realized it was gone. You made me happy and maybe that's why it was so easy to let you have me and not give it a second thought. _

_So I sit here, alone, waiting for someone who said they cared for me, when in all actuality I wonder if they ever cared for me at all. I wonder if all the 'I love you' I heard in my ear at night meaningless, was I meaningless? _

_While I know that Andy will never have me the way you did, but he's been here, he's been the one to hold my hand and let me cry. He's been the one to help me feel something again. Hell, he helped me remember that I could feel something other than the heartache I've felt over you since May. When he asked me to marry him, I almost said no, I care a great deal about him and I want him to be happy, but I don't know if I love him the way you should love someone you're suppose to spend your life with. Than I look back and remembered that I loved you like that and look where it's gotten me. I realize that if given a chance I could love Andy like that, I could be happy if I start looking forward to what's in front of me and not backwards to what has left me. _

_I don't expect you to understand my decision, I didn't understand your decision to go back to Dana and give up what we had, but I respected it because it was the right thing to do. I ask you to either respect my decision, or give me a reason to call it off, give me a reason to wait, tell me why you've been ignoring me for the past five months, give me something, anything to hold on too. _

_Sincerely _

_Jenna_

Greg fell back in his seat, holding the pages that had a piece of Jenna tied in them. God, no one she went back to her ex, she thought he left her.

They had spoken once after Jenna went back to Vegas and it was tell him she was quitting school and giving up her internship to take care of her mother because she had cancer and he heard the heartbreak in her voice. He, however was so absorbed in his own issues and Dana came home and heard him talking to Jenna, she started screaming and so they hung up without really speaking. He called her one more time after that, it had been brief and to the point, he asked her to wait for him.

He told her how miserable he was, how much he missed her that he wanted her, but she needed to wait until the baby was born. She agreed, told him that a letter for him was in the mail and that she would call him soon. That had been the last time he heard her voice, he didn't get her letter and he tried to reach out for a while, than got upset when she couldn't be reached and than he was consumed with his own issues with Dana and the baby that turned out not to be his at all. When he found out that Jenna was getting married, he stopped trying to reach her.

_To hell with her…I asked her to wait and this is how she pays me back. I hope he screws over like she screwed me over_.

It was a selfish, hurtful and childish thought, but that's how he felt at the time. Work took over and filled the void left behind, than it started to become boring in San Francisco, he needed a change, something new. When he heard about the Vegas Crime Lab, how they were the busiest lab on that side of the country and how they were the best, he was hesitant at first. Jenna was in Vegas, it was her home, and he didn't think he could stand seeing her again. But, than he realized that she was married, off limits, he longer had any reason to want her and some selfish part of him wanted to see if she was just as miserable as he was.

So he moved to Vegas and became part of the lab here and started to find that he enjoyed his work again, it wasn't something to fill a void anymore. He started dating again, flirting, nothing serious, after Dana and Jenna he was fine with girls who wanted a one night stand, and he was starting to enjoy life again. However, he started to crave a change, something new. When the change came to work in the field, he wanted it and he worked his ass off to have it and for the first time in his life he wasn't bored, he didn't think he ever get bored with field work. He was really happy with his life.

However, holding this piece of paper in his hands really dented that, she hadn't planned on getting married to screw him over, she thought he left her…and in a way he had. He read the letter over again and really started to feel ashamed about his actions involving her.

_I let you have so much of me; I didn't realize that you had all of me, until there was nothing left. Granted, I shouldn't have given away so easily, but it was you and you had it before I realized it was gone. You made me happy and maybe that's why it was so easy to let you have me and not give it a second thought. _He honestly didn't realize how in love Jenna was with him eight years ago until now. He loved her too, but she always put more into their relationship from the start.

She was the one who started the friendship, the pranks, everything that they had, been because she took a step. Granted, sometimes she took a step back, but it was more than he had done. The only thing he really started between them was the sex, and he had a feeling if given time, she would have started that too.

_I care a great deal about him and I want him to be happy, but I don't know if I love him the way you should love someone you're suppose to spend your life with. Than I look back and remembered that I loved you like that and look where it's gotten me. _That floored him, she had considered him someone she loved enough to spend her life with. She was going to settle with someone she really didn't love, because he hurt her so badly and she couldn't stand to be hurt anymore.

_Way to go Greg, you had someone who really loved you and threw her to the wolves. _

…_was I meaningless?_ God no, she meant the world to him and it broke him when he had to let her go. He could have fought for her when he heard she was getting married, but he backed down and didn't try because he was hurt.

_Think how much she hurt, when you didn't come for her…that's all this letter is, a plea, she didn't care why you weren't their, she just wanted you back. _

_Give me something, anything to hold on too. _Greg sat the letter aside and started banging his head on the steering wheel, for despite having a high IQ he was still a moron.

The nightshift was allowed to go home on time for a change. Greg asked Brass about Jenna before he left, Brass gave him a look

"She's in a holding cell downstairs, until we get something back from DNA saying she in the clear that's where she's staying. She could be a flight risk, she has family in Europe…it's just procedure. "

"Can I…"

"I know you mean well Sanders, but it's best that you not talk to her right now. She's our main suspect in a murder investigation and do you honestly think she'll talk to you?" Greg thought about it and than realized that he would have to explain to Jenna how he ended up with a letter she wrote eight years ago that was in a closet in her house. He nodded and left defeated. He slept for shit and downed three cups of coffee before going in the next night. Wendy was his first stop for the night and she knew what he wanted.

"Just give it another minute," said Wendy. The printer started humming and spit out the results. "Female unknown, doesn't match her. Congratulations, your ex and our hero isn't our killer." She handed him the results and it was all he could do not to hug her.

"You are the best," said Greg. Wendy shrugged.

"Just make sure she knows that the lab loves her." Greg took the results and almost ran into Grissom's office with them. He opened the door and saw Grissom, Brass and Julia from the bakery sitting there. She was wearing black pants and a blue shirt that read-CSI, but the letters spelled out Can't Stand Idiots. She was frowning and tapping her foot.

"Hello Sanders, Miss Patrick was telling us a story about Jenna's two hour void. Would you like to join us?" asked Brass.

"Before I do, the DNA came back from the crystals, not a match to Jenna." Julia sighed.

"I could have told you that you dumbass. Freaking can't believe no one told me about this until an hour ago, I didn't go in this morning because of exams and I didn't hear anything on the news. God Jenna's a stubborn bitch, I love her, she a great boss, but she's hard headed. Than again I can't believe that Barbie wouldn't come clean…well considering what Jenna's doing to cover her ass."

"Can you please start at the beginning for the rest of us?" asked Grissom.

"Jenna went out to Summerland, because Lissa called her, freaking out."

"Lissa, the intern?" asked Greg. Julia rolled her eyes

"Yeah, I was at this party in Summerland and I'm talking this guy by a keg when Jenna calls me and wants to know if I've seen Lissa. I didn't think Lissa went out at all, let alone on a work night. Jenna's freaking out, because Lissa called her crying and said she was at this party in Summerland and that something had happened. So Jenna is freaking and I'm freaking out, because I'm not part of her fan club, but it would suck if something happened to her. So Jenna gets their and we spend an hour looking for her, around 1:30 Lissa calls her and tells her that she's sorry and that she went home and asks Jenna if they can talk later. Jenna read her the riot act over the phone, something about; don't ever scare me like that again, I'll ring your neck if you do, the standard threats…sounded like my mom for a good ten minutes."

"She tell you why Lissa called her?" asked Brass.

"She said that Lissa sounded strung out when she called and that's all she would say. Lissa's parents are overbearing pricks and I can only imagine what would happen if they found out Lissa was on anything. Jenna's covering for her, because you jack asses come sniffing around and they'll probably throw Lissa to the curb."

"So Jenna was with you?" asked Brass. Julia reached into her bag and threw a cell phone at Brass.

"Here, run some fancy test and pull up my cell phone record, Jen called around midnight. Can I go see her or is she not allowed visitors?" Brass shook his head no.

"We had to put her in solitary confinement, for her own safety." Brass added when he saw the look on Greg's face." A fight broke out between some drunks and Jenna ended up in the way. Has a lovely bruise to show for it too."

"Great, it's nice to see the taxes she paid to have a business in Vegas are paying off. When can I get my phone back?" asked Julia.

"It shouldn't take us long to confirm your phone records. By the way, I love your shirt," said Grissom

"Made it just for you assholes, cause you all seem like idiots. I'm out of here, I'll pick up my phone later. I'm going to tell the staff that maybe when this is done and Jenna sues your asses, we can have a Christmas party in a tropical island." Julia picked up her bag and slammed Grissom's door on the way out.

"She a wonderful young lady. I'll take this over to A/V. By the way, Mandy's report came in, she found an unknown print in the center of the rolling pin. Not a match to Jenna. I don't see any other reason to hold her Grissom, if the phone records check out. Was she always this hard headed Sanders?" asked Brass. Greg thought back to the times Jenna covered for him and nodded.

"If she was trying to protect someone, than yeah, hard headed is an understatement." Brass shrugged and headed to A/V. Greg sighed and sat down in a chair.

"Do you think I could get one of those shirts? They are one of a kind," said Grissom. Greg shook his head and started to go over the case from square one with Grissom.

"Phone records came back clean. Sorry," said Archie handing the results to Brass. Brass shook his head and sighed.

"Thanks Archie." Brass took them to Grissom and Greg.

"Well, your girl is clean Sanders. I just want to know…"

"I DID NOT FLY OVER NINETEEN HOURS TO BE TOLD I CAN'T SEE MY DAUGHTER! HER NAME IS JENNA DANIELLA ANTOINETTE BIANCHI!"The three men exchanged looks and headed for the lobby. The screaming had pulled the lab techs away from their work and into the lobby where Judy trying to calm down a very irate Italian woman.

"MY MOTHER LEFT ITALY OVER SIXTY YEARS AGO DUE TO THIS TYPE OF TREATEMENT AT THE HANDS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND BY GOD SHE NOT MOVE TO THIS COUNTRY ONLY TO HAVE HER ONLY GRANDDAUGHTER TREATED THE SAME WAY! NOW YOU EITHER LET ME SEE MY DAUGTHER OR PUT ME IN THE SAME CELL!" She went to draw a breath, to get another round of screaming in when Brass stepped in.

"I'm going to assume your Jenna's mother." She turned on Brass and glared.

"I'm going to assume you're the pig who imprisoned my daughter. I was told I can't see her, I don't know what crazy 9-11 law you're pulling, but the last time I checked my daughter wasn't a terrorist or a murderer and I want to see her now!"

She may have been older and shorter than Brass, but Clarissa Bianchi was pissed and Brass had learned something over the years working as a cop, don't screw with the pissed off mother, be it the mother of a killer or a victim, she would take head off if you got between her and her child.

"Your daughter was the suspect in a murder investigation, we held her here for questioning. But, we can't hold her anymore, what we found clears her and I was just getting ready to go get her. Judy, could get Jenna Bianchi's personal effects so she can sign out and leave quickly?" asked Brass. Judy nodded and almost ran behind her desk.

"I'll go get your Jenna," said Brass heading down to the holding cells. Archie leaned over to Greg.

"Damn Sanders, did Jenna every scream at you like that?"

"Thankfully no." Clarissa turned around and spotted Greg. Looking at her, Greg could see who Jenna took after. Both woman had the same light tan and green eyes, while Jenna's hair was a dark brown, her mother's hair black with streaks of gray. She was about Jenna's height, but thinner and if looks could kill Greg would have been dead. She walked over to him slowly and Archie stepped away.

_Thanks for the help good buddy._ Clarissa looked up at him and seemed be smiling at him.

"You're Greg Sanders."

"Yes, that's me."

"So you're heartless son of bitch who made my daughter cry," she said it very quietly so only he would hear her.

"Yes." Greg had a feeling that she had waited years to meet him so she could tell him off. Jenna and her mother were very close eight years ago, he could only fathom how the strong the bond was now that Clarissa survived her brush with cancer.

"It wasn't bad enough you broke her heart, you insult her in her business and than she gets tossed in jail cell. You're lucky you're an officer and were in a police station or else I would make you one sorry asshole. You hurt my daughter again, I will make you a sorry man. Do we understand each other?" asked Clarissa quietly. Greg nodded and she smiled at him, it was the same smile Jenna got when a prank would go off and it worried him.

"Good."

"Mom." Clarissa turned around and saw Jenna standing in the lobby. Greg felt something in the pit of his stomach when he saw her. She had a large bruise on the same side of her face that he dreamed about. Clarissa took one look at her and went to her quickly, she brushed back her hair, looked at the bruise and frowned.

"Li hanno danneggiati miele." Jenna shook her head and hugged her mother.

È niente. Desidero andare a casa."

"Where are your shoes?" asked Clarissa switching back to English after noticing that Jenna was wearing purple stripped socks. Jenna walked over to Judy.

"Can I have my shoes back? My feet are really cold," said Jenna.

"I'm trying to find them," cried Judy from the back, she was scared that the younger woman would tear into too. Jenna sighed and leaned against the countered. She was tried, cold, dirty and really pissed.

After spending almost all night in the drunk tank, minding her own business, two drunks got into it, they bumped into a group of hookers and started a fight where Jenna didn't move fast enough and got hit in the face. The guards thought it best to place Jenna in solitary confinement, because she was going to be their longer. So she ended up in a closet with a bench, a pot to use the bathroom in and a very small window. She couldn't sleep, she was terrified out of her mind. She didn't kill anyone and now because she agreed to help keep Lissa out of trouble she was sitting in closet watching the Vegas night fade to day and than back into night. Meals were shoved through a door, but no one would talk to her until they informed that because she was in solitary she couldn't have visitors until someone higher in the ranks cleared her. Jenna spent a good ten hours curled up on the bench trying to warm up, they wouldn't let her have a blanket or sweater, something about suicide attempts.

"_I'm not going to kill myself you fucking morons…If I get a chance I'll kill whoever did this though!" _ Judy was still looking for Jenna's shoes when she spotted Greg. Most of the lab rats had went back to work, after Grissom told them the show was over. Greg had a feeling that Clarissa was just the opening when Jenna looked at him. Her face took a determined look and she took a step towards him. Clarissa grabbed her arm.

"Non è degno esso, lo ha lasciato va."

"Quello è che cosa progetto sul fare." Jenna got out of her mother's grasp. "Could you wait here for my shoes?" asked Jenna switching back to English" Jenna walked over to Greg and took the necklace out of her pocket and shoved it in his hand. She looked him dead in eyes, and he saw that dead look in her eyes.

"I wasn't lying when I said I was happy with my life. I was just starting to enjoy my life again, I put my life on hold for almost two years when my mother was sick and when Andy…" she paused and recollected her thoughts and started to speak quietly. "You want to know why I didn't marry Andy…he stole almost ten thousand dollars from the bakery, behind my back to cover gambling debts. I thought what I had to do, to get that money back, so my family wouldn't lose everything, I thought that was embarrassing and degrading."

Greg had a feeling he knew what Jenna had done, stripping in Vegas was an easy business, Catherine had told him a good dancer, or at least one who was good looking could make over a thousand a night. He teased Catherine all the time about her days in the clubs, and it was something he never gave a second thought too. But somehow it was different when it was someone you really loved and that was as caring as Jenna.

"Jen…" he went to put a hand on her shoulder. She brushed it away.

"Don't you touch me, ever again! I'm starting to get my life back, I've started to put all those years behind me. I'm really happy for the first time in years, I have my family, I have my friends and the people who work for me actually enjoy working for me. I have my work, which is damn good and I have a good part of the Vegas wedding business on my doorstep begging for my work. And just when things are looking really good, you come back. I just want to know, is there something in you that refuses to let me be happy?"

"No, I want.." he went to touch her again and she jerked back.

"Don't you dare you say you want me to be happy. Everything you've done says otherwise. You couldn't let me be happy the day I got the internship, you couldn't let me be happy in our relationship, you can't let me be happy now! You came into my business and insulted my decision to quit school, I did that for my family Greg! You chose your family all those years ago and I understood that. I wasn't happy with it, but I understood why. Are you that miserable in your life you have to fuck with mine? I don't get why you can't let me happy? Did you move to Vegas just to screw me over some more? What's next are you going to set my bakery on fire?"

She was shaking from how pissed off she was, there was still so much more she wanted to say and she couldn't seem to get the words out, Greg went once again to touch her, he wanted to explain everything, that he was sorry for how he acted, that she spent all those years alone and that life had been so hard on her.

"What do you want?" he asked her, he got a hand on her shoulder. She reached up and slapped him across the face.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ME EVER AGAIN!!!" Warrick and Catherine came out of nowhere and got in front of Greg and Clarissa was pulling Jenna away.

"Non è degno esso innamorato, li ha lasciati appena va a casa ora," said Clarissa handing her daughter her shoes. Jenna took them and slide them on quickly.

"You know she's right, your not worth it." Jenna let her mother lead her towards the door. She turned around and gave him one final glare.

"You know what I want Greg, I want you to stay the hell out my life. You had no problems staying out of it when I needed you. If you could go back to doing that, it be great. Or better yet, go back to 1996 and fix it so we never met and I could I have back all the years I spent wondering if something was missing from my life by you not being there." Jenna slammed the door on the way out. Catherine looked at Greg.

"You ok, we could get her back in a cell?" Greg touched his face, he deserved that and the screaming, probably more if karma had its way.

"Nah I'm good."

"So that's Jenna Bianchi, I imagine she's a lot nicer when she's not hating your guts," said Catherine.

"She told me her name was Karen Cavanaugh," said Warrick. Catherine and Greg both looked at him.

"What!" they both said in unison. Warrick looked at them both.

"When Greg was in the hospital after the lab exploded, I went to see him during off hours. Catherine you were here putting your report together and I was going to tell Sanders that the results were almost done and I saw her their."

"Are you sure it was her?" asked Greg. Warrick nodded.

"You don't forget eyes like that."

May 2003

Desert Palms: Las Vegas

Warrick walked down the hall of the hospital and was hoping Sanders was awake. He felt bad when they had to keep him awake during their questioning, but it was one of those necessary evils. They had to question the little lab rat to figure out what happened. Thankful, Catherine was almost done and sent Warrick to go tell Greg they were almost finished. Warrick rounded the corner and peeked into the window in Greg's room. A woman was standing above Greg and looked really worried about being their. She was a pretty woman, long brown hair, tan and built just right, Warrick had to admit to himself:

_Damn that Sanders is a lucky bastard._ Warrick didn't keep track of who was dating in lab, he left that up to Nick and the other lab rats. But something seemed off about her. Her hand seemed to be hovering above Sander's spiky hair, like she was scared to touch him. She got not even a half inch from his head, and she jerked her hand back quickly, like she was going to get burned. Warrick took a quite step into the room and noticed the Greg was out like a light.

"Excuse me," whispered Warrick. She jumped and turned to look at him.

_Damn she has eyes that could make a man fall on his knees, Sanders you are one lucky son a bitch._

"I'm sorry, I was just getting ready to go," the woman whispered back. She held up a white bakery box. "I just wanted to drop these off, I know hospital food sucks and yeah…" she trailed off looking like a trapped fox. Warrick wondered why she was so jumpy.

"Can I have one? I haven't eaten anything all day," she opened the box and handed him a cupcake, she looked over at Sanders to make sure he was still out. Warrick took the cupcake and took a bite, he had a feeling that Grissom would kick his ass if he found out that he was taking food from a strange lady in the hospital of an injured co-worker, but damn he was starving. It was a damn good cupcake though.

"I didn't catch your name," said Warrick.

"I'm Karen…Karen Cavanaugh." She shook his hand. Warrick still had a feeling that something was up, hot girls don't randomly visit guys in the burn ward with cupcakes.

"You know Sanders? I work with him, I don't recall him ever mentioning a Karen." She nodded.

"We knew each other…a long time ago, back in college. I just heard about it on the news and wanted to make sure he's ok. And now that I know he is, I should be going." She went to leave the room and Warrick followed her.

"Do you want to leave him a message or anything for when he wakes up."

"Nah, in fact it's best he not even know I was here, like I said…we knew each other a long time ago. I really don't even know why I came," she said the last part more to herself than to Warrick. "Just enjoy the cupcakes." She headed out and Warrick had to shake his head.

_I should have got her number._ He sat down and took another cupcake, they were red velvet cake with different frostings. Warrick finished the box without realizing it and he didn't tell Sanders about the cupcakes or his mystery visitor, partly out of shame from eating a sick man's get well gift and because something in her voice told him she really didn't want him to know she had been there.

Vegas-2005

"You ate his get well gift?" asked Catherine with shock.

"Hey she told me to enjoy the cupcakes." Warrick was defending himself and Greg's mind was reeling.

_She came to see me in the hospital? Why? She knew I was in Vegas, but she didn't try to contact me…_ than it dawned him that if he thought Jenna was married, she probably thought the same thing about him and Dana. They had just missed each other, than again, Greg wondered what would have happened if he had been awake.

"Well now that the drama's done, we need to talk about our cases," said Catherine.

"What?" asked Greg. Catherine sighed.

"Think later Greg, focus on work. I think the drug bust and your murder are tied together," said Warrick.

"How? Don't tell me you found flour at your drug bust," said Greg. Warrick held up an evidence bag with a credit card in it.

"Found something you've been looking for." Greg looked closely at the card. It belonged to the late Linda Stesiak.

"I say we take this Grissom and we talk our cases out," said Catherine heading to his office, Warrick and Greg trailing behind her. Greg knew Jenna wanted him out of her life, but until this case was closed he couldn't do that.

_You know you can never do what she's asks you to do_

_Greg found himself knocking on her apartment door around ten. Jenna took a look through the peep hole and unlocked the door._

"_Greg what are you…" He kisses her and forces her back into the apartment. He shuts the door and finds himself begging her. _

"_Just one more moment, please?" The apartment is dark and bare, Jenna has either shipped her stuff home or placed it in storage. She been sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag and her stuff is being piled into suitcases, it nothing like the first time he was here and it was filled with her presence. She tries to send him away. It's not right, Dana is waiting for him, it hurts too much. He cuts off her arguments by kissing her, pulling her hair out the bun, enjoying the feel of the silk dress, letting his hands roam over her, reminding her of what they had. _

_He knows her weakness is him and he knows what he's doing is wrong and it makes him a bastard for doing this, but he needs this, he needs something to hold on to. Much later, when they lay there in the dark and she crying quietly he holds her closes and all she can say is…_

"_I told you…the longer I look at you the more I want to cry. Now look what you done." She breaks down into full sobbing and he holds her tighter. He stays until she falls asleep. He tucks her in and leaves her a note, deep down he knows that a note is the best thing, if he stays any longer it will just hurt even more._

_I love you…be happy too. _

_Greg_

Notes-Yeah I hope people like, sorry it's so long there was a lot I wanted to cover. Yes the end is near. Things will all fall into place.

Side notes- Jenna and her mother talking

Li hanno danneggiati miele.- Did they hurt you honey?

È niente. Desidero andare a casa.-It's nothing, can we go home now?

Non è degno esso, lo ha lasciato va.- He's not worth it, just let it go.

Quello è che cosa progetto sul fare.- That's what I plan on doing.

Non è degno esso innamorato, li ha lasciati appena va a casa ora- He's not worth it sweetheart, let's just home.

Love it, hate it, review it please.


	18. Barrel of a gun

Barrel of a gun

Jenna heard a knock on the bathroom door and called out.

"Yes mom."

"Your dinner is ready I'll put it in the microwave so it stays warm." Jenna turned off the shower. She just wanted to get the smell of jail cell off her and warm up. The hot water had finally started to run out. She got out and dried off, she got into a pair of Hello Kitty pj pants that Anya and Karen got her and a black hoodie. She dried her hair and decided to ask her mother to do something she hadn't done in years. She grabbed the brush and some ponytail holders and went into the kitchen. Her mother was fussing in the kitchen, doing the dishes that Jenna had left in the sink yesterday.

"I was going to do those," said Jenna. Clarissa shook her head.

"I'm babying you, just deal with it." Jenna shook her head and held up the brush.

"Since I'm being babied, would you braid my hair, I have trouble doing it myself now that's so long." Jenna fingered it. "I should cut it, it gets in the way." Clarissa dried her hands and followed Jenna into the living room. Jenna sat down on the floor and Clarissa started brushing the waist long hair.

"It's pretty, don't cut it." She divided the hair into sections and started brushing the sections. "I don't think I've braided your hair since middle school. You got all grown up on me and wanted to do your hair yourself."

"I let you do my hair for my Quinceañera." She felt a hard tap on the back of her head.

"That was after we fought for nearly an hour about how it was going to be done." Jenna laughed.

"Yeah, I was a pain in the ass." Clarissa smiled and started braiding.

"But, you're my pain in the ass and my daughter and I suppose I can forgive you." They were quite for awhile; Clarissa finished the braid and patted Jenna on the head.

"All done."

"Mom…do you ever regret things?" Clarissa shook her head.

"Miele, I'm an old lady, I regret lots of things. You're not one them though." Jenna turned around and mocked glared.

"Gee thanks." She got serious. "I mean, do you wonder who you could have been if you hadn't met daddy? Do you think that you could have fallen in love with someone else, had a different life?" Clarissa kissed her only daughter on the forehead.

"I don't regret meeting your father; I regret that he died before he got to know you that he didn't get see how wonderful you and Frankie turned out, that he didn't get to met Karen and Anya. See miele, you don't regret meeting Greg. You regret that you didn't get a chance, you regret not knowing what could have been." Jenna frowned.

"I thought yelling at him would make me feel better, I thought slapping him would make me feel great…and it felt good to do both those things, for about five minutes. Now I feel like an ass."

"If it makes you feel better, I told him if he hurt you again I make him one sorry son of a bitch. I wanted to tell him that right after you got off the plane and you looked like you a zombie, I remember you came home and went right to your room and you cried for days. I hated that you were hurting so bad and that I couldn't make it go away."

Jenna put her head on her mother's lap. The two of them had always been closer than other mothers and daughters that Jenna had known growing up. Jenna figured it was because her father had died before her mother even knew that she was pregnant. Jenna's grandmother Sophia had always told her that she was a gift from her father, something for her mother to hold on to and keep her going. Her mother had always been very protective of her and that carried over even though Jenna was in her thirties.

"How can they make you want to love them and kill them all in the same thought?" asked Jenna.

"If I knew that, I would be filthy rich and women everywhere would call me their leader." Jenna laughed.

"So what's for dinner?"

"I made you French toast, with bacon and eggs in a little smiley face." Jenna looked at her.

"How old am I again?"

"You're always going to be five to me, so just get over it."

"Yes mommy!"

………………………………………

"Ok we have our vic's credit card at your drug bust, the question was how did the card get from our scene to your scene?" asked Grissom. The whole team was gathered in one of the conference rooms trying to piece their cases together. So far, they were all drawing a blank.

"One crazy dealer comes in looking for cash, gets spooked by the victim, kills her than robs her and leaves?" suggested Nick.

"But if he already killed her, why not go upstairs and look for cash?" asked Sara.

"Maybe he was freaked that an alarm was already going off because the door was already kicked in," said Catherine.

"That doesn't make sense though, if your worried about an alarm than why kill someone?" asked Greg.

"You're a moron, that's why," said Warrick.

"No arguing with that," said Nick.

"Well for a moron they sure have us chasing our tails. I'm hoping that Wendy's DNA report will give us something," said Catherine leaning back in a chair.

"Oh did someone say my name?" asked Wendy waving a file. "I got lots of results, should I start with good results, bad results, or weird results?"

"Start bad, end weird," said Warrick. Wendy opened her report.

"Ok Bad-Lots of the stuff just wasn't helpful, either too many contributors to get a get anything useable or their not in the system. However lot of it was male so maybe it can help in the future, I'll have something to compare. Good news- I was able to get one name in the system- Mikey Wolf, he has some priors for trafficking, possession, all your regular drug related charges. I have his last current address here." She handed the info to Catherine. "Ok your weird news, female DNA, unknown, matches the crystals found at the bakery and it matches a couple of bottles and baggies found at the drug bust." Wendy handed that report to Grissom. "Sorry there isn't more."

"Ok, so we know our killer is female, over half the people who work at that bakery are female, but we got everyone's DNA from the bakery so that rules out anyone from their," said Sara. Greg felt something click in the back of his mind, something that Sara said. Something wasn't right and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Well, I'm going to pay a little late night visit to Mikey and see if we can charge his memory," said Warrick.

"I'll follow," said Catherine grabbing her jacket. Grissom left the room to talk to Brass about the recent developments. Nick looked at Greg.

"So, how's your face?"

"I'm lucky she didn't have something to throw at me, she always had really good aim."

"She threw something at you? When…do you have some weird pain fetish?" asked Nick.

"It was a long time ago, I said something really shitty to her and she threw a really hard plastic bouncy ball at me, hit me dead center in the back of the head. Surprised, I didn't suffer any brain damage."

"How the hell did you two end up together?" asked Nick.

"Well before I dumped her and before her ex fiancée stole almost ten thousand dollars from her bakery and she had to do god knows what to get it back, Jenna used to be a pleasant person. I have a feeling she's still a pleasant person when she's not being accused of murder and I'm not pissing her off. I read her letter, she wasn't getting married to screw me over, she thought we were done and well he was their." Greg handed Nick the letter. "Here read, I screwed over the one person who actually really cared about me." Nick took it and read it quickly.

"Damn G, she had it bad. What are you going to do?" asked Nick.

"Well I'm going to close this case and get out of her life like she asked me too." Nick blinked.

"You're giving up…where is Greg and what have you done with him?"

"She wants me gone, I giving what she wants. I couldn't give her what she wanted eight years ago, the least I can do is give her what she wants now."

"She doesn't want you gone and you don't want to go. The Greg I know never gives up or does what anyone tells him. If you start now, you're going to let her slip by again. She was pissed off and you were something to take it out on."

"Well she took it out good, I don't know man. You didn't see the look she gave me."

"Think about this, if she didn't care about you, why did she go through the effort of lying to Warrick to sneak into a hospital room to see you, she did that almost two years ago…she still has to feel something for you right?" Nick headed out and Greg sat their and started to hear that little voice in the back of his head nagging at him.

_It's been lonely without her…she was our friend, she always knew us best, and she could make us laugh with a smile or a look. She loved us; it hasn't been like that with anyone since her. You remember don't you, how she felt, how sweet it was when she kissed you, when she fell asleep in our arms…yeah we've been happy, but think what we could of had…it's been eight years…you could have been married…wow that's a scary thought, want another one, kids. You could of had a family…Marv was right, you would look back someday and wonder why you pushed away something so good, the years you wasted being a stubborn asshole. No, your not going to do what she wants, you never have anyway why start now. You want her back, now stop being a whiny bitch and take a step forward._

Greg shook his head, god damn he hated that nagging voice in his head, but at least it was honest with him. He missed her, he missed her a lot over the years and the dumbest shit would make him miss her.

When he first came to the lab and heard Grissom explaining to Catherine that he was freezing some cockroaches for an experiment, he couldn't help but wonder why he and Jenna had never thought about freezing bugs and placing them in Barb's desk. When he started hiding porn around the lab, he could almost hear her voice from the time she dared him to hide porn in the office just to see what would happen. When he flunked his first proficiency, he wanted to someone to buy him a thing of peanut butter cups, a root beer and sit on a stair with him and listen to him bitch. He wanted her, but he kept pushing that want away.

_Stop pushing…she's here now._

…………………………………………

Jenna and Clarissa finished dinner and Jenna caved and let her mother do dishes. Jenna went to make sure the guest room was set up for her mom when the phone started ringing. Jenna answered it.

"Hello."

"Well it's my favorite jail bird, it's good to see you got home and hopefully without bringing home a new friend or disease," said the female voice on the other end. Jenna sighed; it was her sister in law, Karen.

"How do you know I don't have a new friend, she was really sweet and gentle with me." Clarissa turned around and gave Jenna a puzzled look. "It's Karen and she's implying that I started playing for the other team while in my cell."

"Tell her to behave or else." Clarissa turned back to the dishes. Jenna took the cordless and headed to her room.

Karen was the closest thing she had to a big sister, the former Karen Cavanaugh of Chicago was the only girl in a family of six children and Jenna was her first sister. The two soon found themselves becoming thick as thieves and forming a solid friendship. Jenna was always telling Frankie that it he and Karen ever split up, that he would have to find a new sister because Karen would get her in the divorce.

"Are you ok? God, your mom called here in a rage when she was got held up in New York. Frankie got held up at O-Hara, but he should be coming in soon."

"Whoa what, Frankie's coming in?"

"Well he just called a little bit ago, something about a delay in Denver, but that he should be in Vegas later on tonight."

"Jesus, I'm fine." Jenna started pacing. "I got let go, they didn't find anything to hold me, or charge me with anything. Tell Frankie to get his ass home."

"No can do, I spoke to him about an hour ago via payphone, he forgot his cell like a jackass and is probably on a plane now. So…."

"So what?" asked Jenna.

"Your mom was quite irate about a certain CSI working your case, is it, he-who must-not-be-named?" asked Karen coyly.

"No, Lord Voldemort is not a CSI, thank god for small favors," said Jenna. Karen let out a noise of disgust.

"You know who I'm talking about! Come on, Jen…give me some gossip. Anya is asleep and you know I won't tell Frankie. Spill!" Jenna sat down on the bed and sighed.

"You're a horrible person."

"Makes you love me all the more." Jenna laughed and filled Karen in on the past week.

_Karen is a horrible person, but at least she'll push you to do what you don't want to do._

May 2003

Las Vegas

"Ok and now we crack the egg into the bowl, like this…but without getting the shell in their. Now what is egg is Spanish?" asked Jenna holding Anya on her hip.

"Huevo," said the three year old proudly. Frankie had been trying to teach her Spanish and so far she seemed to be catching on quickly. Frankie, Karen and Anya were here for a visit, school let out early in Chicago and being teachers, Frankie and Karen were even more excited than their students to get summer vacation on. Frankie headed out early that day to go see some of the guys he knew from high school, Clarissa had offered to take Jenna's shift at the bakery and that left Karen, Jenna and Anya the house to themselves. Jenna was trying to teach Anya how to make cupcakes and Karen was watching the pair with amusement.

"Now we add the flour, that's two cups."

"Dos cups!" cried Anya sending Karen into a giggling fit. Jenna had to smile.

"That's right, dos cups. Ignore mommy she's being a meanie," said Jenna looking at Karen who had gone into full laughing mode.

"It's just so damn cute, I swear I just need to leave a video camera on you two." Jenna stuck her tongue out.

"We're making cupcakes and if mommy doesn't behave there won't be any for her. Isn't that right puff-a-lump?" asked Jenna. Anya nodded gravely.

"You know she's going to grow up someday and hate that nickname."

"It's not my fault that when she born she looked like a puffy lump. But, she's my puff-a-lump now," said Jenna tickling Anya, causing the little girl to giggle like her mother.

"You spoil her rotten, I don't what I'm going to do with her when we go home."

"It's my job has her Tia, to spoil her rotten, hyper her up on sugar, buy her needlessly loud toys and than send her home with you and Frankie. Isn't that right?"

"Sí," said Anya grinning. The pair finished the cupcakes and put them in the stove. Anya went off to go play with the swings outside and Jenna and Karen enjoying the quite.

"So what do you want to do after I finish frosting those?" asked Jenna.

"Shopping?"

"Not surprising," said Jenna flipping on the mini TV in the kitchen to an afternoon news show.

"Jury selection is slated to start in the Laci Peterson case, an explosion at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, may hurt several pending cases and what you can do to avoid the dreaded 'Summer cold' all of this plus your local weather coming up," said a very perky female announcer.

"Don't you love how chipper they sound when telling you about all the doom and gloom in the world? God I hope they hang that son of bitch out to dry, what kind of son of a bitch kills his pregnant wife?" asked Karen handing Jenna a mixing bowl.

"A son of bitch that's who." The pair finished cleaning the kitchen, Jenna poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down with Karen to watch the news.

"Our top story this afternoon, the lab explosion that happened at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, earlier this morning could have very serious consequences for several cases pending in Clark County."

"The explosion happened this morning around seven in the DNA portion of the building. A lab tech that has been identified as Greg Sanders was injured in the blast, but is in stable condition at this moment at Desert Palms…" Jenna dropped her coffee cup on the floor and she heard that shatter on the floor, but couldn't hear a word that the reporter said after that. Jenna felt like the world was closing in on her.

"Hey, Jen…Jen, you ok…"

_Greg Sanders…no it can't be…he's in California…but…how many Greg Sanders work DNA in a crime lab?_

"Hey, Jesus your whiter than a sheet! Jenna…

_He always said that he didn't want to be in California forever, better lab equals better pay…it can't be him though…god is he ok?_

"For Christ's sake, snap out of it." Karen grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a good shake. Jenna felt the world coming back and she could hear the reporter droning on about summer colds and what meds to take.

"Shit, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to scare you like that." She noticed that her sister in laws face was just has white as hers and her eyes were filled with worry.

"What the hell brought that on?" Karen started picking up the broken coffee cup and cleaning up the coffee. "Do you know that guy from the lab or something?"

"Yeah, it's nothing though." Karen threw the broken cup in the trash.

"Nothing, doesn't make you freak out like that. You look like you just got over the flu, your all cold and clammy feeling too. Now spill, what the hell brought that on." Karen handed her a cup of water, Jenna took a sip, her mouth felt dry. Jenna, for the most part had kept her relationship all those years ago with Greg a secret from those here in Vegas.

She just felt that he was a different chapter in her life and that there was no need to bring up something that painful. Her mother had been quite about Jenna moving in with Greg, because she was old fashioned and the neighbors would talk and god knows what they would think. So the only people who knew were Jenna and her mother. Jenna took another sip and spilled everything to Karen. How they met, how crazy she had been for him, how he dumped her long distance, she didn't leave anything out. It took a good two hours, with an hour break to feed Anya, take out the cupcakes and frost them, than put Anya down for a nap. When Jenna was finished, Karen just stared at her and smiled.

"Well go get dressed, wrap up those cupcakes and go see him."

"What, no…I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Um, well…I think his wife would have something to say?"

"Do you know if he's married, maybe he's doing the single parent thing and that's why he moved to Vegas. From the way you describe that bitch I don't think Vegas was far enough, I think he should have moved to the East coast." Jenna frowned.

"And what am I going to say. 'Hi remember me, I'm the girl who you were supposedly in love with and who you broke up with in by far one of the shittiest break up tactics I've ever seen. How are you?"

"Yeah, just like that. Come on, it's pretty clear that you still care at least a little about his dumb ass or else you wouldn't have freaked out the way you did. I think it's time you got yourself some answers from him. Hell, you're friends with half the nursing staff their, tell them to cut off his pain meds until he gives you answers. Or at least take him a get better gift…show his dumb ass what's he's missing out on a good person." Jenna sighed and looked at the cupcakes.

"How do I explain who I am to the other people who might be their?"

"Just say you're me, use my maiden name. I don't think Vegas has a lot of Cavanaugh's running around. We were retarded and stayed in the cold weather areas." Jenna smiled and looked at Karen.

"I don't know what to say to him…it's been so long." Karen hugged her.

"Well you could start off with a hello."

Jenna walked into Desert Palms later on that afternoon, with a bakery box of the cupcakes, her and Karen agreed that it would be her cover to get in.

_I swear she can talk you into the craziest shit sometimes._ Jenna walked over to the check in desk and called over to Vanessa one of the older nurses on staff. Vanessa spotted Jenna and smiled, she walked around the front desk and gave her a hug.

"Oh it's so good to see you pumpkin. We've missed you and all the goodies you brought in. How's your mother, still healthy?"

"She's talking about going to Italy next year. I need a favor from you…a big one." Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

"How big?"

"I need to know the room number of Greg Sanders, the lab tech who got injured in that blast."

"Why?"

"He's an old friend…I just wanted to pay him a visit," Jenna held up the bakery box. Vanessa knew that there was more to the story, but she wasn't going to press it.

"I'm actually his call nurse and was heading up there to see if he was still out. Care to join me?" Jenna smiled.

"You are the best." Jenna took out a cupcake and handed it to her. Vanessa finished it in two bites.

"Still got the magic touch. This way," Jenna started following Vanessa down a hallway.

"So how bad was he hurt?" asked Jenna. Vanessa sighed.

"Poor baby, almost got hit head on with the blast. If he hadn't of turned around when he did, we be looking at face and chest burns not neck and back burns. He also went through a window so he'll have some scaring from that. The doctors hope to start him on skin grafts soon, but he'll always have the scars." Vanessa stopped outside a door. "I need to check his stats first, but after that you can see him." Jenna watched Vanessa through the window, she didn't see anyone but a male form lying in the bed. Vanessa was quick and quite. She went back out to Jenna.

"He's still out like a light, so don't expect much in the way of conversation." Jenna nodded and Vanessa gave her another hug and went to finish her rounds. Jenna took a deep breath and walked into the room.

_You never know, this could be some other guy named Greg Sanders who works in a crime lab._ Jenna walked over to the bed and almost gasped…it was Greg, no denying that. She felt a smile coming on; he always did look cute when he was sleeping. He had given up on trying to making his hair stay flat and it was sticking up in spikes all over the place and he had gone blond with little brown patches here and there. He looked a little thinner in the face, but it was him and she felt her temper rise slightly. She wanted to shake his ass wake and demand answers.

_Why! Tell me why you end things with me, you stupid son of bitch. How long have you been living in Vegas? Just tell me why?_ Jenna couldn't find the heart to do it though, she looked at the IV with morphine drip and noticed the bandages on his neck and shoulder and felt the angry fade away.

_Poor guy. _ Jenna sat the box down on the table next to the bedside and looked at Greg. She felt horribly nervous being here, god what was she thinking? Dana could walk in; his parents could stroll in and want to know why she was here.

_I wonder who's taking care of your kid…god they would be five, I wonder if they take after you._

She went to touch him and found she just couldn't do it. She went to run a hand through his hair, something she had done countless times when they were together. She got an inch away from his head and jerked her hand back.

_What the hell are you doing, you'll wake him up!_

"Excuse me," whispered a man's voice. Jenna jumped and turned to look at him. It was a tall African American man with a modest afro. Jenna had no clue who he was, but she had a feeling she should get going.

"I'm sorry, I was just getting ready to go," said Jenna softly. She held up a white bakery box. "I just wanted to drop these off, I know hospital food sucks and yeah…" she had a feeling that this dude wasn't buying this and she really needed to get out of here before Greg woke up.

"Can I have one? I haven't eaten anything all day," she opened the box and handed him a cupcake; hoping it would buy her a way out of here.

"I didn't catch your name," he said.

"I'm Karen…Karen Cavanaugh." She shook his hand; she hoped she sounded more convincing than she was.

"You know Sanders? I work with him; I don't recall him ever mentioning a Karen." She nodded.

"We knew each other…a long time ago, back in college. I just heard about it on the news and wanted to make sure he's ok. And now that I know he is, I should be going." She went to leave the room and the man followed her.

"Do you want to leave him a message or anything for when he wakes up?"

"Nah, in fact it's best he not even know I was here, like I said…we knew each other a long time ago. I really don't even know why I came," she muttered this part to herself; she couldn't believe that she was dumb enough to come here.

"Just enjoy the cupcakes." She headed out and cursed her retardation all the way home.

_We know he's going to be ok and that's all that really matters._

………………………………………….

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Karen.

"I don't know…move on. Get back to work; let him get back to his family. Go back to the way things were before our lives started fucking each other over again. I just want my life back," said Jenna sitting down on her bed, she noticed that the closet door was open. They must have been in her closet when they were searching the house, she than noticed that her box from Stanford had been moved and it worried her.

"Hey Karen, I'm getting kind of tired. Let me tell mom that Frankie is coming in and we'll talk later."

"Sure, I'll tell Anya you love her."

"Bye." Jenna hung up the phone and took the box down and looked in the box, the contents in the box had been moved. Jenna felt her heart sink; she took out the letters and counted them.

_Thirty six, I sent him thirty six letters…there should be thirty six in the box…OH SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!!!!_ She counted again; there was only thirty five here. Oh god, they were Greg's friends, his co-workers…they must have found the box, but why take one of her letters? She was burning this damn box as soon as possible. She closed it and put it back in her closet and went downstairs to talk to her mother. Her mother was sitting on the sofa watching a Friends rerun.

"Hey, Frankie is on way into the airport. Do you think we can pick him up?"

"I'll get Frankie, you stay here and rest," said Clarissa. Jenna frowned.

"I'm fine…"

"Don't fight with me young lady. Just stay here and make up the sofa for your brother and get some rest. Oh by the way, Ofilia let herself in this morning and dropped off your purse, you left it in her car. I found it on the kitchen table."

"Good I was wondering where my cell phone went." Clarissa gave her daughter a hug.

"I love you sweet heart."

"I love you too." Clarissa headed out and Jenna fell on the sofa. She was thinking about burning that damn box right now, it would take her mother at least a good two hours to get Frankie. Jenna sighed and decided to make herself a cup of tea to take outside with her when she started the bon-fire. She put the kettle on and got out a mug when she heard her cell phone go off. She went over to the table to get her phone and dropped her purse and everything fell out.

_Damn it. _ The phone kept ringing and Jenna was picking up the stuff she dropped. Wallet, keys, checkbook, and the crystal bracelet she had fixed for Lissa. Jenna went to pick everything up and felt something cold and round touch the back of her head and she heard a very defining click and she froze.

"Get up and turn around," said a voice. Jenna got up slowly and turned around to face Lissa pointing a gun at her.

"I really need that bracelet back."

…………………………………………

Greg and Nick were sitting in the observation room next to the interrogation room watching Warrick and Catherine question Mikey Wolf. Mikey was only twenty five but had quite a record in drug dealing. This was his third strike, so it really didn't matter what he said, he was going away.

"So did drug dealing become a bore, was murder more entertaining?" asked Warrick. Mikey held up his hands.

"Murder, hell no, I don't deal in that. If one of my people OD's that's their own damn fault for not knowing when to cut back. If you're going after me for that, are you guys gonna start going after fast food places for people who have heart attacks when they eat too many Big Mac's?"

"Wow and to think you missed a promising career as a lawyer. Sadly blunt force trauma is not the same has OD'ing. You have to physically do that yourself," Catherine showed him the photos of Linda with her head caved in.

"I don't know this bitch. If she owed someone money, they fucked up by killing her. Dead junkies don't buy," said Mikey.

"Maybe you took her payment in plastic," said Warrick showing him the credit card they recovered. Mikey looked at it and laughed.

"That was a present for me, someone owed me cash and they gave me this to hold me over."

"This someone have a name?" asked Catherine. Mikey shrugged.

"What do I get if I sing?"

"You avoid a needle, the chair, gas chamber, all those little unpleasant death sentences," said Catherine.

"This is your third strike, if we tie you to this murder it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you walk that mile," said Warrick leaning back in the chair. Mikey shrugged.

"College girl gave it to me; she's been running up a tab getting perky pills from me. She gave me the plastic, thought it was her mom's."

"A name!" said Catherine.

"Lissa something, I don't know." Greg and Nick exchanged looks.

"But, we collected DNA from everyone their,' said Nick. Greg felt a sinking feeling.

"No…Lissa wasn't there that day, Jenna gave her the day off. She was on the phone with Lissa when we got there. We never got her DNA!" Nick looked like he had a light going off in his head.

"On the roof…Lissa asked Jenna about fixing a bracelet. We searched that house top to bottom and didn't find it!" Greg started to think.

"We didn't find it in the bakery or in her car…did you find a purse at the house?"

"No, did you?" asked Nick.

"No." Than he remembered that Ofilia told them that Jenna had ridden in her car, maybe she left it in Ofilia's car. Greg ran out the room and into the conference room where they left the case files and called the bakery.

"Torta dei dolci, this is Ofilia, how can I help you?"

"Listen this is Greg Sanders with the Crime Lab and this is really important…do you have Jenna's purse." He heard Ofilia mutter something in Spanish and she took on a pissy tone.

"God, you broke up with her. Why do you feel the need to keep fucking her over?"

"Listen to me, I'm trying to help her, she could be in real trouble right now and I'm not in the mood to take your bullshit, just answer the question, do you have Jenna's purse?" Something in his voice must have moved Ofilia and she answered his question.

"I had it, but I dropped it off at her house this morning."

_Shit!!!!_

"Is Lissa their?" _Please god let her be their!_

"No…she left earlier tonight. Why…" Greg hung up the cell phone and flipped through the files to find Jenna's cell phone number, he dialed it quickly and listened to the ringing on the other end. Greg headed back to find Nick and to get one of the SUV's he ran into Nick who jingled a pair of keys. The phone kept ringing while the pair made their way to the car.

"She's not answering," said Greg has it went to voice mail. He hit redial and got in the SUV. Nick peeled out the parking lot and hit the lights.

_Come on baby, answer the phone._ It picked up after the fifth ring.

"Hi mom." It was Jenna, but she sounded tense and forced, Greg was puzzled by the greeting.

"Jenna, it's me, is Lissa their?"

"Yes mom, you take the underpass all the way to the Strip and you just follow the Strip out of town, get on Route Five and the airport is three exits after that." Lissa was their and from the way Jenna was talking she was trying to buy time and make Lissa think she was on with her mom.

"Does she have a weapon?" Greg was dreading the answer.

"Yes mom, just stay on the underpass and you'll get to the airport in plenty of time." _Oh fuck!_

"Jen, listen just stay calm, we're on our way and we'll radio for some back up. Just try to stay on the line."

"I really tired right now," he heard that hint of fear in her voice. He thought he heard something in the background.

"I'm going to go make up the beds for you and Frankie and than I'm going to bed…I love you mom, tell Frankie I love him too okay."

"No damn it Jenna stay on the phone." Greg heard the dial tone and he threw the cell phone the floor.

"Lissa is their and from the sounds of it has a weapon." Nick radioed for back-up and checked his weapon and handed Greg his back-up piece.

"I know CSI 1 don't carry weapons, but you were trained right?" asked Nick. Greg nodded and tried to recall everything he could about arms training and hostage situations.

_Please god let her be okay, please god…_

………………………………………….

Jenna froze and looked at Lissa and the gun she still had the cell phone in her hand. She looked at the id screen and saw it read LVPD. She blinked, she must be seeing things in her panicked state.

"Who is it?" asked Lissa still pointing the gun at her head.

"My mom," Jenna answered. The ringing stopped and all that could be heard was the tea kettle starting to warm up and Jenna could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

_Keep her talking…try to throw her off so we can try and get out of here!_ Jenna was having a fight or flight reaction, she thought about her family and friends and knew that she had to get out of this for them.

"How did you get in? I locked the doors before I left, they were all locked when I came home?" Lissa shrugged.

"Ofilia dropped off your purse and forgot to lock the backdoor. I was going to take the purse and run for it. But, you and your mom came home. I've been in the hall closet the whole time, I just wanted to get to the bracelet before the cops got it. They've been sniffing around you, I'm surprised that they let you go. They had your prints and I knew you wouldn't use me for an alibi….I was so dumb to wear that, you told me to stop wearing it remember." Jenna nodded.

"It's easy to lose a ring or other hand jewelry in a batter, we don't want people choking on your mood ring," said Jenna remembering the lecture her mother gave her years ago. Lissa nodded.

"I'm really sorry about this Jen."

"Why, tell me why?" The phone started ringing again.

"Who the fuck is that?" snapped Lissa. Jenna looked at the caller id and saw it read LVPD again.

_ Get someone over here to help!!!_

"It's my mom again…she could be lost, she could be coming back. Just let me take the call. If I don't she'll keep calling and than she'll get worried that I didn't answer. She may even come back sooner. Just let me talk to her."

"Keep it short." Jenna answered the phone and prayed this worked.

"Hi mom." She tried to keep her voice light, like she was talking to her mother. Greg's voice was on the other end and Jenna knew if this wasn't so damn serious she would have appreciated the irony of it all.

_It would figure he's the only one who can save our sorry ass and he told him to go away._

"Jenna, it's me, is Lissa their?" They finally must have figured something out to point them towards Lissa who was glaring at Jenna and tightening her grip on the gun.

_Play this careful, or else we're screwed._

"Yes mom, you take the underpass all the way to the Strip and you just follow the Strip out of town, get on Route Five and the airport is three exits after that." _God let him understand what I'm doing._

"Does she have a weapon?" Jenna almost laughed, it was like playing a prank and Jenna had a feeling that if anyone else had called her they wouldn't have been able to pull this off.

"Yes mom, just stay on the underpass and you'll get to the airport in plenty of time."

"Jen, listen just stay calm, we're on our way and we'll radio for some back up. Just try to stay on the line."

"Get off the fucking phone," hissed Lissa pointing the gun closer to Jenna's face. "Or else she's gonna hear your brains hit the wall." Jenna nodded.

"I really tired right now, I'm going to go make up the beds for you and Frankie and than I'm going to bed…I love you mom, tell Frankie I love him too okay." _Please let him understand what I meant. _

"No damn it Jenna stay on the phone." She hung up the phone and sat it down. Lissa moved the gun away from her face and relaxed slightly.

"Ok, now we're going to go down the road and to my car. From there we're going to the bank and you're going to get me some money and we'll see what happens from there."

"Is that what this is about…money?" asked Jenna. The kettle was starting to whistle.

"I didn't mean to kill that lady, she was just there. I just wanted make my parents happy with my grades and school, but I just couldn't keep up, you know. So I meet this guy and he tells me if I start taking these pills I can stay up for hours, get everything done and than some. So we start seeing each other, he had the pills and I had the cash. And they were great, I could stay up all night and study than come in and work and not feel tired at all."

"But he kept jacking up the price, I owe him almost six grand, I couldn't ask my parents, they would kill me. I knew you kept petty cash in your office, but there was no way I could do it without you noticing. So I thought if I faked a robbery, I could get the cash, insurance would pay you back and everything would be good. But that fucking bitch was their and I freaked out, I just grabbed the pin and kept hitting her." Jenna nodded.

"Sweetie if you just would have asked for the cash, we could have come up with something." Lissa let out a bitter laugh.

"Yeah right, I heard the stories about you and that guy you were supposed to marry. You dumped him over money…what would you have done with me?"

"I dumped him because instead of coming to me, talking to me and asking me for help, he went behind my back and stole from me, it was more than money that broke us up Lissa." Jenna had a feeling deep in her gut that Lissa was going to get the money from the bank and than kill her.

_I'm not going to die, not like this._ The kettle went into a full whistle and it startled Lissa. Jenna took that split second to pick up the mug she had planned to used and smacked Lissa upside the head with it. The mug shattered against her head and Jenna went for the door.

"Bitch," cried Lissa. Jenna got three steps when Lissa grabbed the braid that Clarissa had braided lovingly for her daughter and used it to slam Jenna's head into the stove. Jenna's world went black before she hit the floor.

_I'm sorry…I was so dumb. I was just so lonely…_

Writer notes-So did anyone figure out it was Lissa, before I wrote it. Oh well, I tried to keep people guessing.

Thanks for those who leave reviews-they encourage me to write faster.

Love it, hate it, review it please -


	19. All those little things

All those little things

Las Vegas

October 1998

"And smile, perfect." The photographer walked off and Jenna looked at Frankie.

"My face is going to hurt if I have to smile anymore." Frankie laughed.

"Think how poor Karen feels, I think her face is frozen like that. Just think you'll have to go through this someday." Jenna made a face.

"Have you met me, no one in their right mind is going to marry me." Jenna was serving has Frankie's best lady at his wedding and they were dancing. Karen was dancing with her brother the Grooms maid of honor, Jenna was amused with the fact that Karen and Frankie had decided to have Bride's men and Groom's ladies. Frankie had grown up around all the woman at the bakery and Karen had grown up with all her brother's cop friends.

"You'll find someone who is suffering from a mild mental illness and he'll sweep you off your feet." Jenna laughed.

"I'm sure that if I keep him on his meds we'll be great together." Frankie gave Jenna a little twirl and pulled her back in.

"So have you been keeping Andy on his meds? Is that why you two have been spending so much time together?" Jenna frowned.

"We're just friends."

_Yeah we've heard that before!!!_ Frankie sighed and looked at her.

"So that's why he spends so much time with you and mom at the hospital?"

"He's just being nice…look we agreed, no talking about mom's illness, hospitals or anything like that. It's a happy day for you and Karen." Frankie's eyes got dark.

"Yeah." Jenna knew that deep down Frankie wasn't happy at all; it had nothing to do with getting married or Karen. They had planned on getting married anyway, but they planned on getting married later on, like two years from now or even later. But, with Clarissa getting sick so fast, they stepped it up.

_We we're worried she wouldn't be here_. Jenna shook her head and smiled at her mother sitting at table with a nurse they hired for the day. The cancer had moved quickly and so far her mother had lost a good twenty pounds and was already wearing a wig. Jenna was surprised that her mother has even awake, she had went through another round of chemo late last week and was totally exhausted at the rehearsal dinner last night. Jenna broke away from Frankie.

"Go dance with mom, she really wants too."

"I don't know," Frankie hadn't been dealing with their mother's illness well and tried to avoid it when even possible. Jenna frowned at him and hissed in his ear.

"Franklin Giovanni Antonio Bianchi, go dance with your mother before I get your wife over here and we both start kicking your ass." Frankie pulled back and looked at her.

"I can't remember the last time anyone used my full name in that tone…I'm in the dog house ain't I?" Jenna sighed.

"No, she just looks really sad and she talked about dancing with you at your wedding. Now go dance with mom, if she's tired she'll tell you." Frankie gave her a hug.

"I honestly don't know how you deal with it everyday. I'm not strong like you." Jenna patted his head.

"Don't get all weepy on me now. The men in Karen's family look like the type of guys who can take a bullet in the knee and still kick your ass, you don't want to show them that a girl can kick your ass. Go dance with mama," Jenna pushed him off the dance floor and went to go sit down. Jenna took a sip of her drink and looked at the door of the reception hall and frowned.

_He's not coming, why do you think he's coming? _Jenna had sent Greg a letter asking if he could get away for a weekend and come see her and be a guest at the wedding. She told him that he could Dana that it had something to do with work, Jenna even told him that she would foot the bill for a hotel room and gas if he came down here.

_I miss you so much_, she wrote him in the last letter, _Just come see me, make up any lie you want to her. _So far that letter hadn't come back yet, unlike the others she had sent so she was hoping he would come and see her. Jenna sighed and decided that since her family was helping pay for the open bar, she should enjoy the free booze. She got up and went to get another amaretto sour and bumped into Andy.

"Hey." Andy has one of the ushers and was dressed in a suit and tie. Jenna had to admit that he looked really good in that suit, the blue tie really made his blue eyes stand out. He had recently cut his hair, so now it was a mess of black curls.

"Hey," Jenna got her drink and smiled at him. Since there relationship had ended, Andy had changed a lot. He had wanted Jenna to quit school, because he thought it was pointless for her to get the degree when his family owned one of the largest construction companies in Vegas. He wanted Jenna to settle down with him, she wouldn't need to work, unless it was for his family. Jenna told him that she was going to run her mother's bakery and he could deal with that or leave. He left and shortly after Jenna went back to school, Andy's father died and his family found out that his father had rode the business into the dirt with debt and that the family was broke. Clarissa hired Andy as one of the delivery guys; it was a real kick in the face to Andy to suddenly be working for Jenna's family.

Andy was taking care of the house in Henderson while Jenna was camped out on a cot at Desert Palms. He made it a point to bring her the mail, the phone messages, clean clothes and food outside the hospital and he also took over staying at the hospital with Clarissa in case Jenna needed to run errands or do some extra work at the bakery.

_If someone would have told you that your ex would be bending over backwards like this for you last year, you would have laughed your ass off._

"You know this is really nice wedding. How long did that cake take? It's just…wow," said Andy. Jenna looked over at the piano shaped cake that she and some of the other girls had slaved over. Jenna did it for Karen, who taught music back in Chicago.

"Trying to make the mold was tricky; me and Jonathan almost pulled hair out of heads trying to get the frame right. But, it was worth it." Jenna took a sip of her drink and spotted Frankie dancing with their mother who couldn't have looked happier.

"So…listen," said Andy who was interrupted by the nurse Jenna had brought in for the day.

"Excuse me, Miss Bianchi. It's almost nine, we agreed to have her back at the hospital by nine," said the nurse using a slightly rude tone. Jenna sighed, she would have much rather of had Vanessa or Mimi as the call nurse, they were polite for starters and didn't treat Jenna like a child who didn't know what she doing. Sadly they got double booked on a shift and sent someone who reminded Jenna of an even bitcher version of Barb.

"Let her finish her dance with my brother, than I'll tell her it's time to go," said Jenna trying to use that firm but polite tone that got her through many phone fights with the insurance company. The nurse made a noise of disgust.

"I still can't believe that your family would have a wedding right now and put all this needless stress on her, it's really selfish if you ask me." Jenna was getting ready to let loose a stream of swears, when Andy grabbed her arm.

"Well it was a good thing that no one asked you, it was Clarissa idea to have the wedding now. We'll get her when she's finished dancing with the son. And I suggest you apologize to the person who's paying you, and mean it or else I'm sure your supervisor and the other nurses on staff would love to hear about how disrespectful you were to a patient's family during a family event," said Andy. Jenna looked at him in shock.

_Did he just stand up for me…wow! _ The nurse rushed off and Andy shook his head.

"I hope you tell Vanessa what a bitch that nurse is. Hey, you ok?" Jenna was really upset about what the nurse had said.

_It was really dumb to do this now, it really is a lot of stress and she really shouldn't be dealing with right now. God I suck at this._

"I just really need some air." Jenna walked outside and sat down on a stone bench that overlooked the garden and some of the ponds at the resort where the reception was being held. What was she doing, she couldn't do this anymore. Frankie was wrong, she wasn't strong at all. She may act like it, but on the inside she was falling apart, it was all she could do to put one foot in front of the other, her days were just one giant blur after the other.

_Mornings start at six with a meeting with her doctor_ _to see how she spent the night. By seven drugs are handed out, by seven thirty at least one of them has made her physical ill and now it's time to guess which one it is. At ten she's in chemo. _

_By noon she's sleeping and Andy comes in and I get to go home and spend at least three hours on the phone fighting with either A-the insurance company to cover her stay and treatment, B-The bank to see if I can hold off on just one more loan payment for the bakery or house or C-The suppliers for the bakery who want to deal with my mother and want payment for three months ago. If I'm not doing that I'm working, trying to make sure the place stays above the water._

_In the evenings it's another round of guess the drug that makes her sick and if I'm lucky I get about four hours of sleep between the nurse checks or mom crying in her sleep…I'm fucking exhausted, I don't know how people deal with this, most twenty three years old I know are finishing school, getting their life started…mine is stuck. I just want…a hug, someone to tell me it's going to be alright. It's childish, but that's what I want._ She really wanted Greg, she knew that he couldn't come to Vegas and help her deal with the never ending mess that her life had become, but would it be too much to ask for him to return a letter. She sighed and slammed down the rest of her drink and stared at the gardens. She could hear the music from inside the hall and gave a little smile and shook her head.

_It's been seven hours and fifteen days  
Since you took your love away  
I go out every night and sleep all day  
Since you took your love away_

Andy sat down next to her and nudged her.

"Hey, their playing our song. We danced to this at your going away party," Jenna almost let out a laugh.

"Kind of weird, I'm surprised that you remembered" said Jenna.

"I gave them twenty five dollars to play it," said Andy. Jenna looked at him shocked and he grinned at her. He stood up and held out his hand. "You wanna dance?"

_What…what are you doing?_ Jenna got up and took Andy's hand, he put one hand on her lower back and took her hand in his and Jenna took her other hand and placed it on his shoulder and let him lead.

_Since you've been gone I can do whatever I want  
I can see whomever I choose  
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant  
But nothing, I said nothing can take away these blues  
'Cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you_

"How are you Jen?" asked Andy. Jenna blinked, for the most part, over the past few months; no one had asked her how she was. It was always about how was her mother, her brother and Karen, the business. If they did ask her, it was almost like an afterthought.

"Honestly…shitty…really shitty," she almost laughed, it was either laugh or cry anymore. Andy let out a laugh too and pulled her a little closer.

_It's been so lonely without you here  
Like a bird without a song  
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling  
Tell me baby where did I go wrong  
I could put my arms around every boy I see  
But they'd only remind me of you_

"You've gotten really skinny, are you eating?" asked Andy. Jenna shrugged and Andy frowned. "You need to start eating or you're gonna get sick too."  
"Gee since when have you become so worried about me?"

"I know I wasn't the best boyfriend, but I still care…I've always cared about you Jen."

_Oh you are not falling for this line of bullshit are you? Wait…oh my god, don't fall for this._ It was to late, if it was a line of bullshit, Jenna didn't care anymore. Had she been so focused on what went wrong with her and Andy that she forgot that they did really care about each other years ago? Andy had been her first real boyfriend, her only real boyfriend; they had started dating when Jenna was fifteen and had been together for almost six years. He had been her first…everything…first date, first boyfriend, first kiss, first time, first heartbreak. Andy brushed some hair away from her face and smiled.

_I went to the doctor guess what he told me, guess what he told me  
He said girl you better have fun, no matter what you do  
But he's a fool, 'cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you_

"I almost forgot how beautiful you really are. I don't know how you do it, I mean I don't think I could take care for people the way you do."

"You could if it was someone you really cared about."

"Who takes care of you, does anyone take care of you anymore?"

_He used to…but he left._

_All the flowers that you planted brother, in the back yard  
All died when you went away_

Jenna just looked at Andy shocked and tried to find words.

"Let me take care of you, you've been so sad lately and you hide it from everyone and it's not fair." He pulled her a little closer. "Were you seeing someone while you were away?"

"I…"

"Because if he cared, why isn't he here now? I've seen the letters that come back from California, I didn't pry because it wasn't my business, but I see you hurt a little more each time one comes back and I see you hurt a little more each day in that hospital room. Pretty soon, you're not going to be you anymore, just a shell. And the Jenna I remember had too much life in her to be a shell."

_He's right…if we can read between the lines of bullshit, look at what we've become…a goddamn shell…why should we wait and be lonely for someone who has made it clear with every return to sender that we don't matter anymore. I'm tried of it all; I'm tried of not feeling anything. Let's just try…give it a try, what can it hurt?_

"Do you want to get out of here?" asked Jenna. Andy nodded and they went inside to get their things and he drove Jenna back to Henderson. Later on that night, when Jenna was laying next to Andy who was sound asleep she realized that when her and Andy were having sex, she didn't think about Greg, for the first time in months she had put him out of her thoughts, she was thinking about him now, because she realized that she had stopped. She got out of bed quietly and took off the necklace he gave her before she left California and put it in her jewelry box.

_I'm not wearing that anymore, I'm not sure about everything else, but I'm not wearing that anymore. _She didn't wear it for weeks, until Andy asked her to marry him. They were going out for dinner and Jenna was looking through her jewelry box for a necklace and Andy came in and picked it up out of the box and put it on her.

"It's pretty and you were wearing it the night we got back together, so it's like a good luck charm. You should wear it all the time, you never know when you'll need some luck." He kissed her on the check and headed out. Jenna sighed and fiddled with the charm.

_What the hell, it's just a necklace._ She grabbed her coat and headed out.

March 2000

Las Vegas

Jenna was sitting up in a hospital bed and she had taken off her engagement ring and was staring at it like it was a foreign object. She sighed and wondered how she could feel so empty.

_I was going to have the full out wedding because that's what Andy wanted, Frankie was going to give me away, Ofilia was going to be my maid of honor, Karen offered to play piano for me…_

"Jen," she looked up and saw Andy in the doorway. He was carrying a thing of red roses and his eyes downcast.

"Can I come in?" he asked, Jenna shrugged and he took that has a yes. He pulled up a chair next to her bed and took her free hand.

"I'm really, really sorry, about everything. I'll make it up to you someday I promise." Jenna turned and looked at him.

"What the hell are you doing here? You either have balls of steel or you are the dumbest son of bitch I've ever met." Andy gripped her hand tighter.

"I didn't mean for this to happen…"

"For what to happen? For me to find out that you went behind my back and stole from me and family, instead of coming to me like a man and telling me the truth, that you were in trouble and needed help. God damn it Andy, your father did the same thing and look what happened! Did you think I was moron, that I wouldn't notice it?"

"No…I…"

"Or do you mean why I'm in hospital? Are you sorry about that, are you sorry that you made me lose my baby. Because quite frankly, sorry doesn't cut it for that. You can't even begin to fathom what you've really cost me." Jenna peeled her hand out of his and handed him his ring.

"I'm not going to tell my family what you've done. I won't tell them that you tried to screw them over. But, you're going to tell them that this wedding is off and you are not going to blame it on me. I don't care what lie you feed them or your family, but all the blame better lay with you. Do you understand me; I said what I needed to say to you at the house. I want you gone; I don't want to see you again, I want your stuff out of the house before I get home tomorrow afternoon. Just go, please." Andy took the ring and got up. He stopped at the door.

"I'm sorry for everything." He left and Jenna was alone in the hospital room. Her mom had been feeling good and she was in Reno, Andy had called her and she was on her way back. Jenna placed a hand on her stomach and started to cry, she was only eleven weeks in to her pregnancy, not far enough in for the doctors to consider it a real baby, it was common they told her for first pregnancies to end in miscarriage, but it still didn't take away the hurt.

_I felt it move…it was a part of me, I felt it pull away when I lost it._ Jenna got released from the hospital the next day and all of Andy's stuff was gone, but it didn't take away the hurt she felt. Her mother told her she needed to put what she lost to rest, but Jenna couldn't seem to let it go, she felt this constant pull near her navel and it hurt so much.

One of the ladies at the bakery suggested that she get something to remember her first baby, she still had the blanket that the nurses brought her for her son who was stillborn. Jenna thought long and hard about what she wanted to remember her child by, they hadn't told her what she was going to have. A few weeks had passed when some of the ladies started talking about how her sixteen year old daughter had gotten her belly button pierced and how foolish her daughter looked.

Jenna went that afternoon with Ofilia to one of the local body art shops and asked the clerk to pierce her belly button. Ofilia looked at her like she was crazy, but she held Jenna's hand when they did it. Jenna got a hoop ring and the birthstone stone for her baby. She smiled when she looked at it.

_Something to remember you by miele._

Las Vegas

2005

_Christ jumped on the cross…why does my head hurt? Who the hell is whistling?_ Jenna moaned and tried to piece together what was going on, she was having the weirdest dream about Lissa and a gun, than everything went black and than she dreaming about her brother's wedding and all the dumb mistakes she made with Andy. She felt cold tile and realized she was on the kitchen the floor. The whistling stopped and Jenna felt someone pulling on her hair and she felt something cold near her temple.

"About time you woke up, god damn it that hurt." Jenna looked at Lissa and noticed that she bleeding from a serious cut and she noticed the broken glass on the floor and than Jenna remembered that she hadn't been dreaming about Lissa and the gun. Lissa grabbed Jenna by her braid and pulled her up than she pressed the gun against her left temple.

"That was really fucking dumb. Now we're going to try again, we're going to my car and than to the bank." Jenna felt dizzy, it dawned on her that this was the most physically abusive week she had ever gone through, she had been slapped, punched and had her head slammed in to her own stove. Jenna felt horribly disoriented and everything was spinning and it was making it hard to walk a straight line. Lissa pulled tighter on the braid.

"Stop fucking around."

"Well I'm sorry that I'm seeing three of everything right now." Jenna knew that Lissa was going to kill her once she got the money, she had hoped that she would be able to run away from her, and that failed. Now she was trying to stall for the cops to get here.

"Just walk towards the one in the middle," hissed Lissa forcing Jenna to walk. They got to the living room when they saw the flashing blue and red lights from a police car. Lissa yanked on Jenna's hair stopping her at the door.

"You bitch, that wasn't your mother was it?" Jenna didn't answer and that sent Lissa into a rage. She took the end of the handle of the gun and smacked Jenna upside the head with it, causing her to black out again.

Nick and Greg turned the siren off, but kept the lights going and pulled up to Jenna's house. Nick made sure that he and Greg put on the bullet proof vests before going in.

"We're no good to Jenna if we get ourselves shot," said Nick. Greg nodded and he and Nick carefully walked up to the porch and Nick knocked on the door.

"Las Vegas PD, we need you to open up." Nick waited a minute and knocked again, but louder. "LVPD, open up!" Nick got his answer via a gunshot through the front door that missed him by inches. Nick kicked the door open and with his gun pointed forward, Greg came in behind him and saw that Lissa was holding Jenna up by a fist full of hair and was pointing a gun at her left temple. Jenna was out cold from the looks of her, the bruise on her face was worst and she was bleeding from a serious cut on the side of her head.

_A gun shot blow to her left temple, her green eyes stared at him with light or warmth. _ Greg tightened his grip on the gun and felt his heart pounding in his chest.

"Lissa you need to let Jenna go and put the gun down," said Nick calmly. Lissa pulled Jenna closer.

"She's my way out of her." Nick shook his head.

"Sweetie, I'm not letting you leave here with her. You need to put your gun down." Lissa let out a bitter laugh.

"Like I'm coming with you. I'm guessing you've figured out I killed that lady, or else you wouldn't be here. Coming with you means a needle in the arm."

"You're just making things worst for yourself," said Nick. Jenna moaned and stirred and opened her eyes and realized that she now had two other guns pointed at her. Lissa pushed the gun harder into Jenna's temple.

"I'll do it…I'll blow her freaking head off, if I don't get out of here."

_You have to get her out of this!!!!_ Greg lowered his weapon and Nick looked at him shocked.

"Lissa let Jenna go. If you let her go, it looks better for you, I'm sure that the DA will cut a deal with you if you let a hostage go."

"I fucked up big time; I'm not getting out of this." Lissa cocked the gun and her hand and trigger finger were shaking near Jenna's head.

"Sweetie listen to him, it was a mistake…I'm sure they'll understand that, everyone screws up" said Jenna shaking.

"I call bashing in someone's head more than a mistake! What do you know anyway about screwing up? Huh…what have you fucked up in your life Jen?" Jenna closed her eyes and sighed. Nick recognized what Jenna was going through.

_She thinks she going to die here…you remember almost giving into that despair when you were buried in that little box in the middle of nowhere. She's thinking that if she's going to die she may as well be honest._ Nick looked over at Greg and saw that fear in his eyes. _He's scared of losing her for good; he really is still in love with her._

"I lose everything I really love…I never tell people how I really feel. I told you that I ended it with Andy, because it was more than money. We got into a fight when I found out what he did, I was so angry with him and I got so upset, the stress caused me to lose a baby we were supposed to have. Losing that baby broke my heart, I lost my baby and I lost my best friend two years before that. That's what I've screwed up Lissa, I can't hold on to those who meant the most to me." Jenna's eyes rolled back up in her head and she blacked out again. Greg took a step closer and Lissa pointed the gun at him.

"Back off." Greg held up his hands.

"Lissa let Jenna go, this isn't you." Lissa's hand started to shake. "You're a good person and you can end this."

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen…" Her grip on the gun loosed and Nick careful and quickly took the gun out her shaking hand.

"We never do, we never mean to hurt anyone, but we do and we only get one chance to make it right," said Greg. Lissa nodded and let go of Jenna and Greg caught her. Lissa fell to the floor sobbing, Nick handcuffed her and the pair heard the sirens of the requested back up arriving.

"Always here for the clean-up," said Nick picking up Lissa after reading her, her rights. "She gonna be ok?" Greg was sitting on the floor and was holding Jenna in front of him. He had taken off his windbreaker in an attempt to warm her up.

"Her pulse is really weak and she's cold. I think she's going into shock." Greg could feel her shivering through her sweater and his windbreak.

"Wait here, I see if we can get some EMT's in here." Nick took Lissa outside to get her in a police car. Greg brushed some of Jenna's hair out her face and pulled her close to him.

"Come on Jen, wake up. Please wake up." She groaned and looked at Greg with one eye.

"Greg?"

"This is going to sound dumb, but I have to ask if you're ok?" She rolled her eye.

"I got pistol whipped, I got my head slammed into my stove. I got punched in the face by drunken whores in a jail cell, got accused of murder, found a dead body in my kitchen and she was the bitch who slapped me the day before that. Yeah I feel fan-fucking-tasic." Greg looked at her and snorted in laughter, it was the funniest thing he had heard all week. Jenna shook her head. "That's right, laugh at my misery." Jenna went to stand up and staggered. Greg caught her and made her sit down on the couch.

"Just surprised that you still have a sense of humor about you let me see that cut." It was starting to clot, but it was going to need stitches. "You're going to have to go to the hospital."

"I don't wanna," mumbled Jenna, she was starting to black out again. Greg had a feeling she had a concussion and he needed to keep her awake.

"Come on, stay with me." He pulled her close and held her up. "You got stay awake."

"This has been the weirdest freaking week of my life," muttered Jenna.

"Nice to know the feeling is mutual." Jenna started to doze off again and Greg shook her again. "Come on, keep talking. You have to stay awake to make sure your okay." She moaned.

"I'm sorry I called you a douche bag." Greg looked at her, took her hand and grinned.

"When did you call me a douche bag?" Jenna frowned.

"I didn't call you that….must have been one of the insults I was saving. What did I call you…at the jail…it was really shitty of me to do that." She was starting to black out again when Nick and the EMT's came in and shook her awake.

"Miss Bianchi…can you hear me?" one male EMT asked loudly.

"When you scream like that yes," Jenna said in a very sleepy pissed off voice.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" asked a female EMT holding up two fingers.

"Forty two," snapped Jenna. Greg knew she was being pissy and flippant with them on purpose, but they took it has a sign she was seriously hurt and got her on stretcher. She wouldn't let go of Greg's hand. "Shit…my mom…could someone call my mom."

"We'll get your mom sweetie," said the male EMT. They started wheeling her down the porch; Greg was trying to keep up with them.

"Where are you taking her?" asked Greg.

"Desert Palms…just overnight, she'll need an MRI to make sure there's no brain damage," said the female EMT. The EMT's started to load her in the back of an ambulance and Jenna wouldn't let go of Greg's hand.

"Don't…." she blacked out again and her hand slipped out of his. The got in and were ready to shut the door when Nick stopped them.

"CSI Sanders needs to come with you and get her statement and document those bruises. Greg, go get a kit and a camera from the car and ride with Miss Bianchi to the hospital." Greg looked at Nick and blinked.

"Well hurry up," snapped the Male EMT starting Jenna an IV. Greg scrambled and got a kit and camera from the car. The EMT's moved over and let Greg sit next to Jenna. The driver shut the door and the bumpy ride to the hospital started. The female EMT who introduced herself to Greg as Susan tried keeping Jenna awake.

"Come on Jenna you gotta stay awake," Jenna groaned.

"I've been up for over twenty four hours; can't I get a little sleep?"

"I promise if you stay awake that when we get to the hospital you can have the best sleeping pills we have," said Susan. Jenna managed a half smile.

"Does Desert Palms still have really good Jell-o?" Greg had to laugh.

"When I was there the Jell-o was to die for." Jenna noticed for the first time that he was there.

"What are you doing here?" Greg took her hand again and tried to joke with her.

"Couldn't leave you alone, you get in to much trouble when I'm not around."

"Douche bag." She muttered. The ambulance came to halt and they started to unload Jenna and wheel her into a treatment room. Greg was made to wait outside, her clothes were handed to him by a nurse, and he bagged them carefully and was than told to go to the waiting room while they ran the MRI on Jenna to make sure she was going to be alright. Greg sighed and went to the waiting room and sat in one of the famous 'comfy' hardback, low to the ground chairs that the hospital provided.

_She's going to be alright, thank god._ Greg thought back to what Jenna had said in the house, she lost a baby…she compared losing a baby to losing him. He shifted in the chair and tried to get comfortable, a lost cause but it gave him something to do. What felt like hours later, a doctor came out to get him.

"We didn't see anything to suggest any long term damage, but we gave her something to sleep. So you can collect any evidence you need, but you'll have to come back for her statement." Greg followed the doctor down the hall to the private rooms, the doctor followed him in and made sure that Jenna was sleeping and left to go about his rounds. Greg looked at Jenna sleeping, someone had taken her hair out of its braid and the injured half of her face was hidden by hair. Greg was torn between his job and his desire to comfort his friend from years ago.

_Just do your job and you can tell her everything you want afterwards._ Greg popped open his case and started going through the routine of collecting evidence. He pulled out the camera and photographed the cuts on her hand, he remembered that Lissa had a cut on her face.

_She put up fight, good girl_. Greg smiled, Jenna always had been feisty. He was glad to see that all the years hadn't taken that away. He had to move her hair to photograph her face. He moved it away carefully and Jenna stirred a little and dozed back off. Greg didn't realize that he was holding his breath until he let it out.

_Work…work._ He got the pictures he needed and finished up by taking nail scrapings, almost waking Jenna up again in the process. He put the camera away and made sure everything that he collected was in the case. Greg turned and looked at Jenna, she was only inches away, but it felt like miles.

_Is this how she felt when she came to see me? _ He moved a little closer to the bed, aside from the bruises and cut on her face, she looked just as beautiful as the day he first met her. He reached out and took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze and felt her squeeze it back. Jenna opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Hey."

"Hey." Greg went to pull up a chair to sit next to her when a tall dark skinned man walked into the room, with Clarissa behind him. The man's jaw dropped upon looking at Jenna and than he noticed that Greg was holding Jenna's hand and he turned his attention to Greg. Greg let go of Jenna's hand, he had a feeling this was Jenna's older brother, Frankie who would probably kick his ass for even looking at Jenna. Jenna looked at the man and gave a lopsided smile.

"Hey Franklin." The man shook his head and came up to the bed and Greg stepped away. The man bent down and gave Jenna a kiss on the forehead.

"You never could stay out of trouble."

"I'm not the one who got caught spray painting Mr. Keller's garage when I was sixteen, so suck on that," said Jenna.

"It's nice to see that you're memory isn't damaged," Frankie turned around and noticed Greg and Greg braced for his beating. Frankie offered his hand out for a handshake. "They told me you saved my sister's life, thank you." Greg shook his hand.

"Just doing my job. I should get going," Greg picked up his case and went to head out when Jenna called out to him.

"Do you think you can come back tomorrow?" Frankie raised an eyebrow and looked at his sister and Greg.

"I'll try," said Greg and Jenna gave him a little nod and a small smile. Greg walked past Clarissa, who followed him out to the hallway.

"Mister Sanders." Greg stopped and looked at her. She came up to him slowly and looked up him for a few seconds before throwing her arms around him near tears.

"Thank you, very much." Greg shrugged and went to head out.

"I can understand now why my daughter fell so hard for you." He stopped and looked at Clarissa who shrugged and started to head back to Jenna's room, she stopped at the doorway. "You really should come and see her tomorrow." She headed into the room and shut the door. Greg sighed and headed back to the lab with the evidence.

Seven hours going through the scene and evidence at the lab, a nap, a shower and a stop at the hospital gift shop later, Greg was standing in the doorway of Jenna's room. She looked more alert than last night and was sitting up in the bed, flipping through the channels; a breakfast tray was pushed to side half eaten.

"Jenna." She turned and looked at him and motioned for him to come in. He pulled up a chair next to her bedside and held up a baggie. "Got you a get well soon gift."

"What is it?" she asked her voice subdued and Greg could tell that her last shouting match at him was still wearing on her.

_Be her friend, she needs that right now._

"This." He pulled out a cherry Pepsi and a bag of Skittles. Jenna smiled and Greg remembered how that smile was for him and him alone.

"You remembered."

"I never forgot." Jenna reached over and opened a bedside drawer and pulled out a can of root beer and a thing of Reese cups.

"I didn't forget either…I had one of the nurses get these for me in case you came."

"Why wouldn't I come?" asked Greg taking his snack food. Jenna shot him a look.

"I don't know about Dana, but most wives don't like their husbands visiting old girlfriends, even if there in the hospital after a hostage ordeal." Greg almost choked on his drink.

_Oh shit, she still thinks your married; we should set her straight before we go any further._

"Um, Dana and I aren't together." Now it was Jenna's turn to nearly choke on her drink.

"God what a bitch, I mean leaving you is one thing, but I'm going to assume that she left your baby too. God I thought the guy who knocked up Ofilia and left was an asshole, but it takes a special kind of woman to leave her baby behind," said Jenna acidly.

_You should set her straight on that too._

"It wasn't mine; she said it was mine because she knew I would stay. She told me this after I held her hand for almost ten hours and saw it come into the world…I knew it wasn't mine when I looked at it. So Dana's a lying bitch and I haven't seen her since than." Greg took a bite of his Reese cups and almost laughed at the shocked look on Jenna's face.

"You're shitting me…I'm sorry," said Jenna.

"Not your fault. Besides, even if I was with Dana I still would have come here to see you; you came and saw me when I was in the hospital." Jenna's jaw dropped.

"How did you…"

"Warrick told me," Jenna gave him a questioning look. "Oh, tall black guy ate my cupcakes, all of them. You told him your name Karen? Why did you lie?" She popped a few candies in her mouth before answering.

"I saw the story on the news and when I heard that you were one of the people who got hurt and sort of freaked out and I told Karen, my sister in law, about…us and she told me to stop being a baby and come see you, well I wasn't sure if it was you or not. I didn't think they were many Greg Sanders working in a crime lab. She told me if I ran into anyone, I could use her name as cover. I was scared that your 'wife' would kick my ass, so I lied about who I was."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" asked Greg.

"I couldn't." She looked down at her bed and Greg pulled out the letter from his pocket and handed it to her.

"Is this why?" She took it and realized what it was and stared at him.

"Where did you get this?"

"Let's just say that CSI Stokes is all about matchmaking and he found it by accident, you won't rat him out will you?" Jenna shook her head.

"I can't do that to East Texas, the girls will have my head." Greg raised an eyebrow. "All the girls started calling him that."

"I never got any of those letters; Dana sent them back to you, not me. I didn't get any of your calls either. She made sure I got your engagement notice. Did you get any of my letters, I didn't write that often, but I did write." Jenna shook her head no.

"I was at the hospital on a cot with my mom; Andy was checking the mail and messages for me." A look of realization came over Jenna. "If I had the desire to go track his ass down i would beat him up." Greg smiled.

"He's not worth it." It grew quite between them and Greg took Jenna's hand. "What happened, after you called off the wedding?" Jenna sighed.

"I don't know what he told everyone, but I made him call off the wedding. He probably told them it had something to do with me losing the baby. I didn't tell my mom about the money, Ofilia was the first one to notice that it was missing. So we kept it quite and I took a second job, my mom was still kind of sick, so I told her the second job was for hospital bills and well…I danced for about a year, year an half and I hated it, but I was able to get the money back and no one found out, I even had some extra for the shop here in Vegas." Jenna leaned back in the bed and sighed. Greg tightened his grip on her hand.

"What happened to us? You were my best friend." _I loved you_

"We run away when things get to hard, we tend to over think every little thing, we're morons. Yeah, I'm going to stay with us being morons." Jenna smiled at him and Greg smiled back. "I've missed you so much."

"Me too." A silence fell between them and Jenna looked him in the eyes.

"Can I ask how you feel about me now?" Greg bit his tongue trying to find words.

"I don't know." _Liar_ "I miss my friend, I miss everything we had. I miss knowing that you would always be there." Jenna nodded and looked at the bed.

"It's nice to know the feeling is mutual. I mean we really haven't seen each other in years, yet just being in the same room with you, makes me…" she looked at Greg and he found himself drawn in. He let go of her hand and touched the undamaged part of her face. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes and both of them were remembering what it felt like to have their hands on each other. Greg gulped and tried to reorganize his thoughts.

"Jenna…I,"

"Tia!!!!" They broke away quickly and a small girl with blond hair and a very light tan jumped on the bed and gave Jenna a hug and a woman with blond hair and very pale skin came in behind her and frowned.

"Anya! What did mommy say about running and yelling in the halls?" The little girl pouted and the older woman sighed. "That's the last time I let you sleep on plane." She looked at Jenna and than at Greg and raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"I'm Karen, are we interrupting something."

"No." They both said together and Jenna blushed and gave Anya a hug.

"Um, this is my sister in law, Karen and my niece Anya. Anya, Karen this is Greg Sanders from the Crime Lab." Karen's grin got even bigger and Greg knew he needed to get out of here before Karen started questioning him.

"I should get going, bye Jen."

"Bye Greg, thank you…for everything," said Jenna. He smiled and started to head out. Karen watched him walk out and she turned to Jenna and started talking in French and Greg had to laugh.

Il est si mignon. Damnez-vous peu d'anneau, vous sont plus d'ennui que votre valeur. _He is so cute. Damn you little ring; you're more trouble than your worth._

"Karen, he's not Frankie, he speaks French." Karen turned red and shrugged at Greg.

"It's not my fault that you're cute and I'm married." Greg shook his head and headed out.

"Jenna's gonna be at work later on tonight if you wanna talk to her again," called Karen out the door.

"No yelling in the halls mom!" cried Anya. Greg got into his car and started banging his head against the steering wheel. _You were so close!!!!_

Greg was finishing up the paperwork for this case, when Nick walked in.

"Lissa is being charged with murder; Jenna isn't going to press charges against her for the attack in her house or breaking in. Mikey is going to jail for a very long time and life is good for now."

"That's good," said Greg. Nick lightly smacked him on his head. "And what was that for?"  
"I heard you went and saw her at the hospital, what happened?"

"Heard from whom?" asked Greg.

"No one, you just told me," said Nick grinning and Greg sighed.

"We talked, that was it."

"Tell me you two are back together," said Nick.

"No."

"Come on Greg, why are you dragging your feet on this?"

"We're friends."

"Bull shit, you want more than that with her." Greg threw a pen at Nick.

"I don't know what I want when it comes to Jenna."

"Yeah you do. Take it from someone who waited till it was too late to be with the person they felt a passion for. I know you two have that, or else you two couldn't piss each other off so quickly," said Nick, he went to head for the door, but remembered he had something for Greg.

"Found this in the SUV, I think you know who it belongs to." Nick tossed something at Greg and headed out. Greg caught it and looked at it; it was Jenna's charm necklace. The charm still reminded him of her eyes, he couldn't believe that after everything that had happened, all the years that had passed she held on to this, still wore it. He looked at it and had a feeling he knew why she kept it, she had in some small way waited for him even after she supposedly move on. All these years, she waited. I was the one who left and didn't look back. Dumbass." He quickly finished the reports and handed them to Judy and decided to take off earlier and not clock anymore overtime. He told Judy that he could be paged if needed and left the lab. Nick and Hodges watched him leave from the Trace lab.

"Lucky Bastard," said Hodges. "I spent hours getting that number off my hand and she's going to waste herself on Sanders."

"What was the number, did you ever call her?" asked Nick.

"867-5309."Nick started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Jenny, I got your number," sang Nick, Wendy and Mandy walked in to speak to Nick and couldn't help it.

"I need to make you mine, Jenny don't change your number."

"867-5309," they all sang and Hodges's jaw drop.

"Damn it all to hell!!!" cried Hodges who slammed off, leaving a laughing Nick, Wendy and Mandy behind.

Jenna straightened her back and sighed, she was kneading dough for tomorrow mornings cinnamon rolls. The girls were quite and subdued news of Lissa being arrested for murder and her attack on Jenna had upset them. Jenna had a feeling that her being there was a little upsetting. Cover-up was not going to work on hiding her bruises, it got too hot in the kitchen and all she would do is sweat it off, so her beating marks were there for all to see. Out of respect for Jenna's mother the music was softer than what they normally had blaring in the kitchen. Some one had put in Eva Cassidy and it was depressing the hell out of her.

_Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick  
And think of you  
Turning in circles confusion–  
Is nothing new  
Flashback to warm nights–  
Almost left behind  
A suitcase of memories  
Time after–  
_

She slammed the dough down and went to look for a rolling pin, she got one the spares they had. She was told that hers was evidence and she wouldn't be getting it back, she didn't want it back anyways, it had been used to beat someone to death. She would have to go and get a new one and label it hers. She started rolling out the dough and really wished they could have put in something else, she didn't know why this music was depressing her to no end.

_Sometimes you picture me–  
I'm walking too far ahead  
You're calling to me I can't hear  
What you have said–  
And you say–go slow–  
I've fallen behind–  
The second hand unwinds_

_If you're lost you can look–and you will find me  
Time after time  
If you fall I will catch you–I'll be waiting  
Time after time_

Frankie, Karen and Anya had caved to jet lag and were sleeping at the house, Jenna went back home for a shower and a change of clothes, but she still felt weird in the house, so she went into work to help with the backlog. Her mother had taken a nap earlier and was wide awake now and helping get dough ready for turnovers. Jenna grabbed the butter and was putting it on the dough and by the time she got the sugar/cinnamon combo, her eyes were watering.

"For fuck sakes can't you people find something else to listen to," snapped Jenna who was sick of Eva Cassidy and was half tempted to throw something at the C.D player.

_If you're lost you can look–and you will find me  
Time after time  
If you fall I will catch you–I'll be waiting  
Time after time  
_

Ofilia clicked it off, the other girls gave Jenna a look and Clarissa put an arm around Jenna's shoulder.

"I'm fine; it's just…that song is depressing as hell."

"Let's go get some air miele," said Clarissa leading Jenna towards the stairs that went to the rooftop. Jenna sighed; she didn't know what was wrong with her. She was fine, everything was going to be ok, but she still felt horrible. They told her Lissa was going to jail for at least fifty years for the murder, it was such a waste, she had a promising future and now it was going to be in a jail cell. Her mother sat her down on the swings and started rubbing Jenna's back.

"What's a matter innamorato?"

"I don't know, just stressed." Jenna turned to her mother. "Why didn't she just tell me she needed help, I would have helped her out. Her parents won't help her out and now she's going to spend her life in a jail cell, god I only spent a day in one and it freaked me out, she's not going to survive in there mom." Jenna put her head on her mother's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, you can't help those who don't want it," said Clarissa in Italian. "Is something else brothering you?" Jenna answered her mother back in Italian.

"Yes, I talked to Greg this morning. He's not married and the kid wasn't his, his psycho ex sent my letters back, Andy got rid of the letters he sent me, so we've spent over six years hating each other for no reason and now I don't know what to do."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

Greg pulled into the parking space outside the bakery and saw Ofilia and another woman cleaning the front of the shop. Greg knocked on the door and Ofilia spotted him and went over to the door, opened it and leaned in the doorway.

"What do you want white boy?"

"Is Jenna here?"

"On the roof, she was having a hissy fit and needed some air. And so I'm going to ask you again, what do you want white boy. You've made my boss; my best friend and my daughter's godmother cry repeatedly this week. Give me a reason I shouldn't kick your scrawny ass to the curb?"

"Jenna is perfectly capable of kicking my scrawny ass and I have something I need to say to her and if your not going to let me in, I'll just stand outside and scream at her until she comes down from the roof." Ofilia rolled her eyes.

"I don't know whose worse a Mexican man or a white boy." She stepped back inside and took Greg up the stairs to the roof.

"Don't screw this up."

"Do you miss him sweetheart? Do you want him back?"

"I don't know mom, he really hurt me the last time?" Jenna was torn about what happened in the hospital room, it would have been so easy to give in to his touch, she knew that look in his eyes. But, she didn't think she could go there with him again, it hurt too much. Than again she wasn't sure what he wanted, he told her so himself.

"Than how come you're still want him?" Jenna shrugged.

"Because he's smart and warm and funny and he cares about people, he saved my life. I'm just scared to feel that way again." Jenna put her head down on her mom's shoulder and she could smell yeast and sugar, something her mother always smelled like when Jenna was growing up.

"Do you still love him?" The tears Jenna had been holding back all night came out in her voice.

"I think I do."

"Jen." She froze, it couldn't be, she turned around and Greg stepped into the light were she could see him.

"Mom you could leave us alone for awhile? Please?" Clarissa nodded and headed back down stairs to the bakery. Jenna looked at Greg who was walking towards her and knew that look in his eyes and knew what it meant and what it would do to her.

"Greg before you." He was kissing her before she got another word out.

He couldn't figure out what to say to her, she always left him tongue tied. Plus every time they did try to talk about their relationship they messed up and everything went wrong. Actions spoke louder than words anyway, he wanted, needed her to know that he was still in love with her. He pulled her into that kiss and held her tight; he had missed this so much. The years fell away between them; everything that had happened over the years meant nothing, this here and now meant everything. He felt her hands wrap around his neck, felt her fingers in his hair and she was bringing him in for more.

_YES, OH THANK GOD YES!!!!!_

His hands remembered how she felt and began to follow a path that they had taken years ago. He ran his hands through her hair, remembering how soft it felt. Over her face, wiping away tears he caused her.

_I'm sorry I make you cry. I promise I won't make you cry anymore._

He continued until he found her hips and pulled her even closer to him, her shirt had ridden up when she wrapped her hands around him and he wanted…needed to feel her skin in his hands and he moved his hands up to her sides and pressed into her. He heard her gasp and she pushed away from him and she was standing their shaking.

"Greg."

_Oh no._

…………………………

He was kissing her again and it was all she could do to stand up, she had to wrap her hands around his neck for support. She could feel his hair in her hands, he had let it grow out and it was soft and fine. She laced his hair in her hands and pulled herself a little closer to him. It had been years since anyone had kissed her like that made her feel like she was drowning and she wanted it.

_He's the only one who's made us feel this way, made us want._

She felt his hands on her, through her hair, on her face all the way to her hips. She felt him dig his fingers into her hips and than she felt his hands working under her shirt and it sent shockwaves through her.

_What the hell are you doing, no, no! It's too much, too soon. I can't, it hurt too much the last time we let him in. _She pushed away from him and started to shake.

"Greg."

………………………………

He had moved to fast, scared her and now she was pulling away. He reached out and took both of her hands in his and squeezed them and looked her in the eyes.

"Oh Jenna, I've missed you, so much it hurt. I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I hurt you. You gave me so much and I never gave you anything back, at least not has much as you gave me."

"I don't know Greg. I don't know if I can let you back in, it hurts. It hurt so much when you left me, I lost it when I came back home. I couldn't sleep, I cried for days, I couldn't eat, food tasted like ash. I honestly think the only thing that kept me going was that my mom needed me. I can't let myself fall in love with you again, only to have you leave again." Greg pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"Baby I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did that to you, I never, ever wanted to leave you. I loved you…I still love you Jenna." He tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her forehead. "Come back to me please, I need you to come back." Jenna looked at him and he wanted to look into her eyes forever, she bit her lip and looked down at the ground.

"I'm not the same person I was years ago." Greg took her face in his hands and looked at her.

"I'm not either; I wanna start over with you, clean slate. Just come back please." She started to bit her lip again and Greg was worried that she was going to pull away again, that he had lost her for good this time. She gave him a small smile and threw her arms around him, Greg felt a warmth come over him that he hadn't felt in ages and he pulled her in closer.

"Why did we wait so long?" asked Jenna.

"We're morons." He heard her laugh and that warmth continued when she buried her face in his chest.

"I missed you."

"I missed you more," said Greg.

"You are such a dork." Greg laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you."

"For what?" she asked.

"Waiting." He pulled the necklace out of his pocket and put it on Jenna. "This belongs to you, it always has."

"I always felt weird when I wasn't wearing it." Jenna let her head fall on Greg's shoulder and Greg moved to kiss her again when Ofilia came up on the roof.

"Are you two going to stay up here all night making out?" Jenna turned and looked at Ofilia.

"Go back to work before I fire you!"

"Stop making out than," said Ofilia who went skipping downstairs. Jenna turned to Greg and smiled.

"I have to go, before all my employees come up here and start harassing us. Call me, so we can set up a date." He kissed her again and took the fire escape off the roof; Jenna went back downstairs to her staff smirking at her. She told them to get back to work before she fired them. Her mother grinned at her and patted her on the head.

"Good girl."

Writer's notes- Yeah school is done and I have a 3.0 GPA to show for it, now I can write all I want, I have one more chapter for this one and I plan on writing another story involving Greg and Jenna. I hope everyone has like this so far.

Love it, hate it, review it please.

Thanks to those who have reviewed, put me on alert and added me to their favorites. -


	20. Epilogue

Epilogue

Greg was nervous; it was really silly when he thought about it. It was Jenna, he had no reason to be nervous, and she was his friend…well she was his girlfriend again and it was just a date. Dinner, movie, maybe drinks afterward, nothing serious. He let out a sigh and buttoned his white shirt and pulled out a blue jacket and thought back on the past few weeks. Work had kept Greg busy and he and Jenna hadn't been able to set up that date. They chatted over the phone, slowly reconnecting and talking again after being silent for almost eight years.

Every now and than, Greg would come into the lab after working a scene and find out that Jenna had dropped him off a lunch. This was something that Nick, Warrick and all the lab techs had teased him about without mercy. They shut up when they saw Greg eating fresh lasagna and homemade garlic bread and they were eating cold sandwiches and ramen noodles. Warrick slipped Greg twenty dollars for some of the red velvet cupcakes and told him that if he screwed this up, he would personally kick his ass and hook up with Jenna, just for the cupcakes.

Greg sat down and waited for Jenna to show up. He had finally managed to get a night off and Jenna had arranged with Ofilia to handle some of the orders and paperwork and they were finally going on said date. Greg flipped on the TV and started flipping through the channels not really caring what was on.

_Why are you freaking out, it's Jenna, she's your girlfriend. You've never been nervous with her._ He heard a knock on the door and almost jumped out of his skin. He forced himself to take a deep breath and open the door. Jenna gave him a nervous smile. God she looked beautiful, the bruises on her face had finally started to fade and she was wearing a pair of black Capri pants and a light purple button up dress shirt with quarter sleeves and a pair of low heels. She had pulled her hair back into a bun and was holding it in place with two light purple hair sticks.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Um, you ready for dinner?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah." Greg grabbed his keys from the table and locked the door behind him.

"You want me to drive; I mean you always drove when we were in Stanford, because I didn't have a car." Jenna was babbling and she blushed and looked at Greg.

"Are you nervous?" he asked her.

"For some retarded reason, yes. I don't know what is wrong with me. I mean it's silly."

"I know I haven't felt this nervous since I had to take my test to get into the field." Jenna laughed.

"We'll take my car, since you're buying."

"Why am I buying?" asked Greg.

"Your grandfather was the one who said pretty girls eat for free, I got pretty just so I could eat for free." Greg laughed and Jenna led him to her car. They got in and drove off.

"You can listen to anything you want," said Jenna handing him a cd case. Greg flipped through it and remembered something.

"You can never accuse me of having pissy white boy music ever again."

"And why is that?"

"I saw your Flogging Molly collection. That is has pissy and has white as it gets." Jenna laughed.

"Karen got me into Flogging Molly, we went out for her 30th birthday in Chicago and ended up drinking and moshing to Flogging Molly until the bar closed." Greg laughed and decided on some Flogging Molly.

_I would wrap the world in clover  
But you make me see my way  
And I would die for you tomorrow  
Would you come to me today?  
Sing a song of sadness about the girl with the happy face  
And dance upon the water with a ripple or a trace  
_

_Love is here any cloud in the sky  
Would you be my flushing bride?  
I don't think so  
But I never met a girl like,  
I never met a girl like,  
I never met a girl like you before_

Jenna couldn't help it and started to sing loudly and off key, Greg joined her and people were staring has they drove. Jenna pulled into the parking lot of a Mediterranean restaurant and they got out.

"This is one of those places that has good food and isn't a tourist hell hole so you can get decent service," said Jenna. "Unless you wanna eat somewhere else?"

"No, this is cool." Jenna reached out and took Greg's hand in hers and they walked into the restaurant. The restaurant smelled like humus and gyros and the hostess was able to seat them quickly. They ordered drinks and some pita bread and fell into silence for a few moments before Jenna let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You know, we never really went out on a date when we were in Stanford. We were busy with finals; mostly we just hung out at each others apartments. Maybe that's why we're being so retarded with each other right now. This is technically our first date."

"Oh my god, you're right. Wow, this is kind of weird." Jenna took a sip of her drink and smiled at him.

"So how was work?"

"Work…their looking for a new DNA tech, so I'm filling in until they get a new lab tech and getting harassed by the guys. Something about I'm confused and I'm kissing the ass of our boss's boss and the jokes go one from their."

"Do you ever tell them to suck it?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah, it doesn't work though. It's what I get for being the low man on the pole." He grabbed a piece of pita bread and started munching on it.

"I'll trade you; I'm working on the largest desert buffet I've ever seen. It was suppose to be a simple table with some sweets on it, now it's a twelve foot long table, holding deserts in their pink and brown wedding colors, they have added a sundae and cookie bar along with hundred and fifty cannolis along with chocolate and strawberry covered pretzels. And all I can think of when I'm dipping the pretzels is that horrible scene in the movie Mallrats."

"Oh, where Jason Lee gets that guy to eat the pretzels after he….oh gross."

"I know. You should hear the jokes in the kitchen, all I can think of is that fact that this woman is going to probably going to freak out when she sees her bill and I hope she really enjoyed her chocolate covered pretzels."

"Can I ask how much your making from this insanity?" Jenna bit her lip.

"If I tell you, will you still buy dinner? Because she hasn't paid yet and who knows what I'll have to fork out in hospital bills when she's done with me."

"I'll buy, don't worry."

"She's pushing over six grand with the table; her cake was over a thousand." Greg's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit! Are you serious?" Jenna shrugged.

"Modern Bride: Trendsetter of Year 2004, Brides: Who's who in weddings 2002 and 2003, Food Network. Can I help it if the crazy brides who come to Vegas want a little piece of me?" Greg shook his head.

"Wow, are you hiring?"

"Oh, you wouldn't survive sweetheart." The both started laughing and placed their dinner orders. A silence fell between them while they ate, occasionally commenting on how good the food was. They ordered desert and conversation started back up.

"So what made you leave the lab? It was all people could do to get you out the lab back in school?"

"I got bored. I got to help once with this case about this coin collector and they let me out of the lab to help them and well, it felt great my world felt large out their. I told Grissom that and he gave me this look and told me it meant a pay cut. When I told him the pay cut didn't matter, I think I almost made his jaw drop. So I bounced back and forth for awhile after the lab exploded and I finally passed my second final proficiency, they let me out into the field."

"Second final proficiency?" asked Jenna and Greg felt himself start to blush.

"I failed my first one, but Grissom let me have a second try."

"How do you fail? Did you not write the report right or something?"

"I used the bathroom at a crime scene without clearing the bathroom first and I could have ruined the evidence in the bathroom by doing that." Jenna snorted in laughter.

"So you failed, because you took a piss. Did you at least wash your hands before going back to work? Because, I'm not going to let you anywhere near a kitchen without washing your hands." Greg started laughing and threw a straw wrapper at Jenna.

"I really had to go and yes I did wash my hands after leaving the restroom. But the gun had been hidden in a toilet and that's why I failed." Jenna's eyes got wide and smiled.

"Gun hidden in a toilet, I thought that only happened on TV."

"You be surprised how many people try to copy something they've seen on TV." He told her about the case where the kids had tried to copy the show _Jackass_ and ended up shooting themselves and killing one of their friends.

"And sadly there are no laws protecting people against stupidity until someone gets hurt. You ready to go?" asked Jenna.

Greg nodded and paid the bill. They headed out and Jenna took him to see_ The_ _40 Year Old Virgin _and they sat in the back making jokes about how Hodges was going to be the 40 year old virgin and Greg told her about how Hodges had a _Dukes of Hazards_ board game and the 'Hodges experience' and Jenna told him about how she gave Hodges the 867-5309 number and nearly caused Greg to spit out his drink. She reached over and took his hand during the movie and put her head on his shoulder and Greg let her stay there the whole time.

After the movie ended, Jenna drove him back to his apartment and walked him to the door.

"You don't need to do this," said Greg. Jenna shook her head.

"Considering all the times you walked me to my door, it's the least I can do." They paused outside the door and it dawned on Greg why he was so nervous, he didn't know how to end the date, he didn't know if he should invite her in or send her home. He knew if he invited her in that she would be staying the night and he wasn't sure if he was ready to go there. Greg took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Umm, do you want to come in for a drink or…?" Jenna gave him a kiss; one of those long slow kisses that had always turned him inside out and made him want more. He felt his hands creep up her shirt and settle on her sides. She broke away from him slowly and looked up at him.

"No." Greg's jaw dropped and she blushed and took his hands. "This will sound lame when I tell you this, but it's me not you." She looked away and tried to collect her thoughts. "I haven't been with anyone in a very, very long time."

"How long?" blurted out Greg, the blush on Jenna's face got even redder.

"About four and half…maybe five years if you give or take a couple of months." Greg felt his jaw drop again Jenna got even redder. She took a deep breath and continued. "After things ended with you and Andy, I realized that I wasn't me anymore. Both of you took very large pieces of me and I decided that I wasn't going to let anyone have me anymore until I was me again. And I know it sounds lame, but it was my decision and I'm not willing to step away from it just yet." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and looked him in the eyes.

"I want you, I really do, but I need to see where this is going before we go their again. Do you understand?" asked Jenna. Greg nodded and kissed her cheek.

"I thought my year and half was a long time." Jenna smiled and gave Greg a hug. He held her for a second and when he broke away he went and unlocked the door. "You waited for me; I guess it's only fair I wait for you now."

"Thank you." Greg opened the door and went to step inside when Jenna called out to him."I just want to know one thing, did you ever get rid of that springboard, squeaking hell you called a bed from Stanford." Greg laughed.

"Yes I got rid of it, I upgraded to plush queen size bed. No springboard, no squeaking. Would you like to come try it out?"

"Nah, you have fun with it." Jenna walked back down the stairs and Greg went inside and shut and locked the door.

He sighed, slightly disappointed that Jenna wasn't going to be staying the night or any other night in the foreseeable future, he understood her decision though and he respected it. The last time they had been dating, she had put in all the effort and now it was his turn to do the same.

_At least I'm getting a second chance. _

Fin….

Writers notes-Yeah it's done, I hope those who read it enjoyed it. -, for those who did like it, don't worry I plan on writing more about Greg and Jenna.

The song was by Flogging Molly: I never met a girl like you.

The episode where Greg was let out of the lab to help with the coin collector was in Season Three: Precious Metal, the other episode that was referenced about the kids and the Jackass stunt was also in Season Three: A Night at the Movies…yeah I'm dork, but what can I say.

Love it, Hate it, Review it please.


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